Questioner: In Gangotri I saw that you were performing the arathi to the Ganga at Badrinath or Kedarnath.
Sadhguru: No, no, that is in Rishikesh.
Questioner: Rishikesh.
Now what is the significance of doing this at the Ganga?
(Sadhguru): Arathi to Ganga, that’s not my idea.
I am not given to rituals at all.
It is just that when we come back from the tour and land in,
you know it's a different experience.
You drive through Himalayas for two - three weeks
and come down to Rishikesh.
There huge group of people waiting
and they want to arrange something for us.
So they arranged one special arathi to be done.
It's our culture;
I am no struggle with the culture;
I am very much a part of it
but personally I am not given to any rituals at all,
absolutely no.
I told you in my whole life I have never even prayed once.
Not once I have uttered a prayer in any sense.
So arathi for Ganga is just water;
water is one of the elements out of which you are made.
One basic aspect of yoga,
the most fundamental aspect of yoga is known as Bhuta Shuddhi.
That means working towards creating
a certain freedom from the five elements,
becoming free from the five elements
because five elements
it is the mischief of the five elements which is creation.
There are few people, Ammu and somebody else constantly asking
“Why creation, why creation?”
I didn’t do it.
It’s the mischief of these five elements constantly playing tricks with you,
in so many ways.
What you call as body,
what you call as planet,
what you call as everything is just the mischief of five elements.
So there is a whole,
the fundamental fabric of yoga is called Bhuta Shuddhi
that means to become free from five elements.
There is a whole lot of sadhana with every aspect
with earth, wind, fire, water, space - like this there are sadhanas.
Those of you who come from Tamil Nadu would be aware of this to some extent
and one is in Andhra Pradesh.
So you should also be aware.
Five major temples were built for five elements in South India.
Are you aware of this?
For earth, for wind, for fire, space and water.
I think the wind is in Andhra Pradesh, is it?
Participant: Yes.
Sadhguru: Shreeshailam is.
Participant: Kalahasthi.
Sadhguru: Kalahasthi, that’s for wind.
So for five elements they built these temples,
these are not worshipping temples.
These are temples which were built for sadhana.
These are yogic temples.
So these temples are built in a certain way,
with a certain type of energy which assists that type of sadhana.
So yogis travel through these five temples
doing sadhana in many cycles to become free from this.
We are thinking of
I am thinking of doing a program like that,
that where we take a group of people
and spend certain time in these five different temples,
doing variety of sadhana for that particular element.
You are in the water temple
you do sadhana for the water element within you.
You are in the fire temple - you do sadhana for the fire element within you.
To get mastery over and also to enhance these aspects
which could do miracles for one’s health and well-being in so many ways.
It is not for health or well-being;
fundamentally it’s go… to go beyond the limitations of the physical.
So water is an element.
Now, see when we sit for food,
when we sit in front of food,
in this country we don’t thank any god.
We just bow down to the food itself
Right now if you don’t eat for five days
if God appears what will you ask?
Food,
because this moment your existence is food.
One who sustains you is your God, isn't it?
Food is sustaining you,
water is sustaining you,
air that you breathe is sustaining you.
Five days if you don’t eat food will become God.
Two days if you don’t drink water, water will become God.
Two minutes if you don’t breathe, air will become God.
Yes or no?
So we bow down to all the five elements so that they function well for us.
We not only bow down
we also learn mechanisms to make them function well
so that your fire, your water, your earth and your wind everything functions well.
Only if these five elements are in cohesive function
you have a proper body and a proper life, isn't it?
Isn’t it so?
So there is a whole process called Bhuta Shuddhi
but that process what you probably saw on this video is more like when we come down,
these people want to honor me,
they do some extra, you know special pooja something.