Questioner: This question is from Mimi. Namaskaram Sadhguru!
In the last few weeks, you have been speaking about making home a sweet home to live in.
However, home cannot be sweet for many who are victims of domestic violence
and cannot escape anywhere.
Sadhguru: This is a man complaining or a woman?
Questioner: Mimi.
Sadhguru: Hmm?
Questioner: Mimi! M-I-M-I, looks like a woman.
Sadhguru: Okay (Laughs).
Sounds like a woman (Laughter/Applause).
Questioner: In Lebanon, the number of victims have increased by hundred percent since March 2019
and the same is happening across the world after the lockdown.
How can we help them in these difficult days and what can they do to survive this period?
Sadhguru: Domestic violence... I thought it could be a man because these days women are more fit than men
(Laughs). So I thought it's the man complaining but it's still a women, unfortunately.
Well, see this is what we are trying to change. This is what the world is trying to change,
because... because a women or a female human being has certain biological responsibilities,
in terms of bringing us all forth here. Because of that, there were certain
social handicaps which evolved over a period of time. These handicaps have been exploited
too harshly in many societies, almost everywhere. But not everybody, but everywhere it's happened.
In some places it has religious backing, in some places it's free enterprise.
To dominate and exploit a woman, individual people will always do.
I want you to understand, it's not just about a women. Individual people have a tendency to exploit
anybody who is little weaker than them. Well, people… all over the world this used to happen,
fortunately it's come down considerably now. When we were growing up also,
every day at the school you can get beaten for something or the other, almost every day.
Why are you beating a child? Simply because they're smaller than you.
You... you even had sayings, "Spare the stick and spoil the child", something, something.
So you are not beating them because you know something better.
You're not beating them because you have evolved and they are unevolved and you want to
hasten evolution with a stick – simply they're smaller than you.
How come when they grow up, you don't beat them? Because now you know the consequence (Laughter).
So similarly, they're not necessarily beating somebody because they are women.
They're beating them because they're physically weaker; compared to a man, little smaller and weaker,
generally at least. So, this exploitation of anybody who is weaker than you, either physically, financially,
socially, whichever way – if you are if you're little weaker, you get rubbed around.
You know, once I was... there was some kind of assembly near...
in Mallanadu, that is near Shivmaga, in the Western Ghats. There is some camp there and...
this is way back, I'm talking. Some little yoga thing going on and they wanted me to come there
and spend a day with them, so I went. Naturally, my mode of transport was always a motorcycle
at that time, I went there (Laughs). Those days, the 250cc, single-stroke machine was a big motorcycle!
Today, when I park it next to what I have today, it looks like a joke. But (Laughs),
that day it was big motorcycle, on the road, it was the fastest thing on the road.
So, I went there and some other people were there who were serving that place.
So on a little Luna, there used to be one little machine called Luna, Kinetic thing.
So on this Luna, this guy goes to purchase some vegetables from a faraway place and comes
because this is in a remote jungle. And then he was coming with all these bags and some truck
was going and truck pushed him off the road. So he fell down and little damage.
No big damage but some damage, some skin lost, no bones. So he came and he was saying what happened
and you know, "Because I didn't have power, he pushed me like this.
On the road, you must always have some power." I said, "Not just road, just about anywhere
if you don't have power, they'll push you around." (Laughs) Unfortunately, the world has become like this.
This is why, this is why a spiritual space is very important, where people are not seen for their strength.
People are not seen for their physical strength, or financial strength or something else like that,
but people are valued just for what they are. We need to build a society like this.
This violence within the house, I know a whole lot of people are trying to address it
like it's a man-women problem. It's not a man-women problem, this is man versus anything problem.
Anything that's weaker than you, if it's very small, you will stamp it out. It's little big, you throw stones at it.
If it's little bigger, you take a stick and beat it. Just about anything!
Why (Laughs)... why do people, why did people go about just shooting whatever they saw?
Wild animals and stuff like that. Not always for food! If they had just shot for food because of their survival,
that's a different matter. Most of the animals were shot simply for pleasure
because they can't shoot back at you. So, you shoot a buffalo because it can't shoot back at you,
you beat a child because he can't beat you back, you beat a women because she can't beat you back.
So, this is on everywhere but today women have choices.
It's time we must make those choice – we can't fix everything right away!
But all of you who have children, empowering the girl child in your house, is the most important thing.
Empowerment does not mean she should become the exploiter from tomorrow.
Empowerment is this, that you have no need to exploit anybody – that is empowerment.
A human being is truly empowered, that if I sit here, I feel wonderful by myself.
I don't have to have ten people beneath me for me to feel great. This is empowerment.
This empowerment has to happen means, you have to look at the spiritual porcess – the whole world.
Spiritual process does not mean looking up, looking down, it's about turning inward
and getting in touch with the essential nature of who we are.
If we don't touch that, we will be like every other animal.
This happened one day. A lion was walking in the forest and he was feeling like
this man in the domestic violence scene, little strutting around, thinking like that.
He saw a fox, he caught him and he said, "Hey! Who is the king of the forest?"
Fox, you know how, "Oh, my lord, you are not only king of the forest, you are the king of the universe!"
He felt little more, it got puffed up. And then he was strutting around.
Then he saw a leopard, caught him, "Who is the king of the forest?" He shivered,
because he's not a match for the lion, he said, "No, no, you are definitely
the king of the forest, there is no two ways about it. If I had two choices, it would be you and you."
(Laughter) Then he was feeling really wonderful, even a leopard is shivering in front of him
and he came to a little opening, there he saw a huge tusker standing.
Then he roared, "Who is the king of the forest?" The tusker without a word, put his trunk out,
picked him up, twirled him around and thrashed him on the ground (Laughter). With his back hurting very badly,
"You could have just told me (Laughter)." The tusker said, "But I had to make my point (Laughter)."
So this problem, that wherever you find somebody who is little weaker than you, physically,
financially, socially, politically, you want to rub them in; this is very animalistic.
It's okay for the animal kingdom, not okay for human beings.