Shekhar: Sadhguru, a lot of what you’ve said,
you’ve related it to
what modern world is doing to us
in the way it’s teaching us,
in the way we are behaving
Sadhguru: No, no, I’m… I’m not really
See, there is no such thing as modern world and ancient world, okay?
At every time in society
there is a certain set of people who are trapped in their own logic.
And they think anything outside that as… that is insane;
Every generation thought
somebody was modern,
somebody was conservative,
somebody was, you know, liberal,
somebody was conservative, like this.
No generation has not had that division.
So I am not truly saying modern in that sense.
Every society has that.
Okay, let me say prudes and not so prudish people.
So being prudery people are thinking
in terms of
somebody is restrained in his thought and action.
I am saying the moment you employ your intellect,
you’re super-restrained.
Silly things people think right now,
very silly things –
socially, internationally
people think they’re profound things
because you have a constipated … intelligence
and over-used intellect.
When we say intelligence,
now this little plant which produces a fragrant flower,
you’re discounting that intelligence.
There is more intelligence in the air around you
than in your brains.
Yes.
There is more memory in the air around you than in your brains.
There is more memory in the epithelial cell of your body
than in your brain.
This is a fact.
Shekhar: So the question I was going to ask was –
I wasn’t born to be trapped by my intellect,
because
it’s… it’s a tough question for me,
it’s like what you’re saying is you’re trapped by your intellect,
and I agree with you
because a large part of our… our questions to ourselves is just,
you know, circus within the mind.
The mind asks, the mind answers, the mind doubts, the mind asks, the mind answers –
I wasn’t born like that.
But what you’re saying that is
Are you saying that is not the natural way to be?
And if it’s not the natural way to be –
why did I become like that?
Sadhguru: Because there is no such thing as human nature.
Being a human being means it’s a flux.
For all other creatures on this planet,
nature has drawn two lines.
Within that band, they must live.
For a human being,
only one line – the bottom line; there’s no top line.
So there’s no description of what is a proper human being;
there’s no definition like that.
Everybody thinks everybody else is wrong, isn’t it? (Laughs)
Shekhar: Yeah.
Sadhguru: (Laughs) Because there is no definition
that ‘this is what a good human being is.’
People are always trying to arrive at it
but when you impose the definition
all you will get is
rebellion from many, many places.
Every generation tries to arrive at what is a good human being
and the next generation comes and says,
‘That’s rubbish!
That’s not what… the way we want to be’,
and they want to be some other way,
just to beat this –
the trap of that,
and they create a new trap.
A new trap looks like freedom,
because it’s a new place.
After some time you know the pain of that
and then you want to create a new one.
I’m talking about employing your intelligence
without the limitation of your intellect.
The human existence is a phenomenal intelligence.
See, right now you’re here –
you can’t do it with your thought.
You can’t conduct your breath with your thought.
You can’t beat your heart with your thought.
You can’t make your kidneys and liver work with your thought,
can you?
They’re way beyond your percep… your thinking process, isn’t it?
So I am saying
your thought is useful only for certain aspects of life.
The thing is you’re taking it beyond its ambit
and making it look stupid.
It is not stupid – it’s a wonderful process!
The significance of being human
One of the significances of being human is
we’re capable of thought
and conscious thought.
It’s wonderful!
But a foot-scale is wonderful if you’re measuring your height,
but not for the ocean;
it’s a wrong thing, that’s all.
Nothing wrong with a foot-scale;
it’s very useful.
If you’re a tailor, it’s useful.
If you’re a mason, it’s useful.
For so many things it’s useful,
but if you’re an oceanographer,
don’t go with a foot-scale,
you’re going to waste your time and life
and come with wrong conclusions.
You’re trying to use your intellect beyond its ambit, that’s all.
So you will end up coming to conclusions.
Rather than perceiving,
you’re arriving at conclusions and thinking that is true.
Whatever conclusions you make
have nothing to do with reality.
You’re making conclusions with the limited data of information
that you have gathered.
It doesn’t matter if you’ve eaten the libraries of the planet,
still what you have with you
compared to what the Existence is,
what the Creation is,
it is just a miniscule of knowledge!
With this knowledge you don’t try to make a conclusion –
it’s bound to be wrong.
Maybe you earned a PhD in a University (Laughs),
but you cannot know truth like that,
you cannot know the nature of Existence like that.
So the best way is to open a window and simply look;
you see at least one dimension of life the way it is,
not the way you think it is.
Because the way you think
is essentially dependent upon the limited data
that you have gathered in your brain,
in the memory system, rather.