Sadhguru: This is part of the Bhuta Shuddhi tradition, where
the fundamental process is to cleanse the elements in the system.
If you're planning your kumbh trip, do some sadhana and benefit from the process,
rather than making a ritual out of it. The cycles of the moon and the sun
has a profound impact in the way we are, celebrating this
and finding ways to go beyond this, is what kumbh is.
This is a profound understanding of the twelve-and-a-quarter-year cycles of the sun.
Who we are, the way we are, why we got shaped like this,
is fundamentally because of the various forces that function upon us,
solar system being the main thing. In a way
the solar system is functioning like a potter's wheel.
It functions like the potter's wheel and while you the pot, somebody wants to empty their pot
(Laughter).
If only, if for example, the planet decides to rotate a little faster
than the way it is right now, all organisms on this planet will have to go through a dramatic
change in the way they are. Probably
the presently existing organisms including us would not survive a two time speed of rotation.
We are like this, because we are a product of this system, understanding
the power of these cycles upon the human system.
They identify places and situations which would be of maximum benefit to human well-being.
So, particularly they chose places where there is confluence of rivers
because where two rivers meet, there is a non-stop force and
our bodies of the five elements dominated by water,
over seventy-two percent of our body is water.
So if you are in a place where there are churning waters, at certain times,
considering the latitude and at that time of the year
or at that time of this twelve-year cycles,
the relationship between the planet and the sun, it creates a powerful situation
where one can transform themselves. Lot of studies have been made on the previous Kumbh,
and they found phenomenal physiological changes
in people who stayed there for over forty days and every day they were in that water.
A Khumba Mela is supposed to be for forty-eight days.
That is people should stay there for forty-eight days, every day in the river
along with that sadhana. This is part of the Bhuta Shuddhi tradition where
the fundamental process is to cleanse the elements of the system and water being
a major part of it. Water is considered very important for health,
well-being, prosperity, whatever we are seeking in our lives.
So this forty-eight days has particular specific sadhanas where people stayed there and
went through this process and came out fully transformed because
they made use of the natural forces to transform the quality
of oneself, not just physiologically, even spiritually.
But today people are going just one quick dip and out.
That's a different game. There may be some benefit, we don't know. But
it's too brief. When I watch people, they just in and out in three minutes,
that is too brief to have any kind of major impact, except maybe an emotional involvement.
I know you can't take off, maybe right now make up your mind and forty-eight days,
but if you are planning your Kumbh trip, at least plan minimum three to seven days.
So that you are there, do some sadhana and
benefit from that process, rather than make a ritual out of it.
It is not a ritual, it's a scientific process. It's just that
science has been lost and practice has been carried on. That's all that's happened.
It's time to put back the science because only then we will benefit.
It's time we approach these things with little more understanding and meaning
to it, so that one can really benefit rather than simply making a ritual out of it.
For those of you who are thinking what is it got to do with me,
because I live in an air-conditioned home , well, to put it in a very fundamental way,
if our mother's bodies were not in sync with the cycles of the moon,
we wouldn't be born. Yes, we wouldn't be born.
So the cycles of the moon and the sun has a profound impact in the way we are.
Acknowledging this, celebrating this, and
finding ways to go beyond this is what Kumbh is,
is what Yoga is in many ways, to break the cycles of life.
When I say cycles, anything that cyclical is bound to be repetitive.
If something is repetitive, that means it's not getting anywhere. This most people realize,
when they're close to their deathbed, that when they look back and see,
what looked like great things when they were doing it when they look back and see it
doesn't mean a thing. Those who look back and see are those who die and regret.
But if you look ahead and see what you may do tomorrow, what you are
very passionately waiting to do tomorrow actually doesn't mean a thing,
then you would look at life much more profoundly.
The problem is not passion, the problem is not in involvement.
The problem is entanglement. The nature of entanglement is always cyclical.
So these cycles are determining everything about the human being. If you're living
in a physically, mentally very healthy state, your system will go through
twelve-and-a-quarter-year cycles.
Just for example, if it falls to a six-year cycle,
that means you may still be successful in the world, but you will not
know any peace or joy in your life you're always...
If it falls to three year cycles, you will have a hard time with the world
around you and yourself. If you fall into eighteen-month cycles you're on antidepressants.
If you fall into nine months, three months, six months cycles,
you're in serious conditions of mental and physiological struggles.
Now, the kumbh comes from this understanding that
you are trying to regularize your cycle to a twelve-year cycle.
If you carefully observe your life, the psychological situations,
emotional situations, and also life situations, you will see a certain pattern to the cycles.
If you look, you don't have to share this with anybody, this is not a confession.
If you sit down and write down different things that have happened in your life,
you will see a certain pattern. If it is falling into a twelve-year cycle,
you're in a reasonably good place. Health and being peaceful is not a issue.
Now it's time to work for freedom (Laughs). Time to work for mukti, that's what it means.