Don’t postpone realization to the next lifetime! Sadhguru gives us a tool to make every time we sleep, a possibility for growth.

Questioner: Sadhguru, sometimes I wonder, if I die without reaching the Ultimate, will all the effort of doing the practices go waste? Or will this somehow help me rediscover this path in my next life if I don’t succeed in this life?

Sadhguru: You have decided to be a failed candidate? That means you are not only choosing to waste your life, you are planning to waste my life too. I don’t take that kindly. Why do you think you won’t make it?

Realization is Not an Achievement

It is just a question of realization. Realization is not an achievement, attainment, or acquisition. Realization means you suddenly see something that has always been right here. You suddenly realize you have been stupid all your life. Realization does not depend on your capability. If you remain oriented, you will realize. But if your orientation keeps changing every few minutes, then of course realization will only happen in another life. However, what makes you think next time you will come as a human being? Suppose you come as a cockroach, do you think the future teachers will talk to cockroaches? They won’t. I have not trained them for that!

Do not postpone it for later. You do not know when your life will end. Whatever your “horror-scope” may say, the horror does not always come true. This is not even to be postponed to tomorrow, let alone to another life, because you do not have to achieve anything. You do not need any particular kind of capability. You just have to maintain your direction. If you maintain the direction, invariably, it will happen. But most people keep changing direction – one step forward, one step backward.

Narada and the Peasant

Most yogis just sat in one place. They did not do anything other than maintain the direction. Whatever happens, that is all you have to do. There was a sage who was a little mischievous. His name was Narada. Narada considered himself Vishnu’s greatest devotee. All the time, he was walking around uttering god’s name – “Narayana, Narayana.” One day, in the assembly of the god’s court, when someone asked Vishnu, “Who is your greatest devotee?” Vishnu said, “A peasant somewhere in southern India.”

Narada was dumbstruck. He thought he was the greatest devotee because throughout the day, he was saying, “Narayana, Narayana.” Narada wanted to see who this competitor was. He went down to southern India and watched what the peasant did. In the morning, this man got up and uttered “Narayana” – once. Then he did his morning ablutions. Before eating, he said, “Narayana.” Then he went and set the plough. Before starting to plough, he said once, “Narayana.” After that, all he said was “Hey, hoo!” to the bullocks. When he went to bed, he said, “Narayana,” and fell asleep.

Narada thought, “What rubbish! In the entire day, he says “Narayana” four times and he becomes the greatest devotee! I am saying it 17,637 times!” So he went back to Vishnu and asked, “How can this illiterate peasant who utters Narayana four times a day and is otherwise busy ploughing the land and taking care of his wife, children and bullocks be the greatest devotee? Throughout the day, I don’t say anything other than your name.”

Vishnu picked up a vessel, filled it to the brim with water, and gave it to him. He said, “Just go around the world carrying it. Not a drop should spill.” Narada held it in his hand, went around the world, and came back. Vishnu asked, “How many times did you say Narayana?” “What? You said not a drop should spill – how am I supposed to say ‘Narayana’?” Vishnu said, “That’s all. This simple peasant’s life is like that. If he does one thing wrong, his life will spill. But in spite of that, he says it four times. You have nothing to do, so you saying it the entire day means nothing.”

It is not about what you do. You only have to maintain the direction. The rest will happen because it is not something that you or I do – it is the nature of life to realize itself. You just have to remove the distraction and maintain your focus in the right direction.

How to Maintain the Direction

Questioner: How do I maintain the direction? I have been struggling with that.

Sadhguru: Holding the direction means first of all to remove all false perceptions you have. This means keeping everything that you believe aside. Unless it is something you need to function in society. Among people, for some transactions, you have to believe certain things. But otherwise, keep everything aside. You may feel like an idiot then, and it is good for you to know that you are an idiot. The difference between being enlightened and being stupid is – an enlightened person knows that he is stupid; a stupid idiot does not know he is a stupid idiot. That is a world of difference. The problem with people is they do not know the trap they are in. If they knew, they would not stay there.

What You Can Do

Before you go to sleep tonight, sit down on your bed and mentally keep everything that is not you aside. Starting with your nationality, your race, your religion, your body, your mind, your thoughts, your emotions, your ideas, your philosophies, your gods, your devils – keep everything aside. Just sleep on it. Do this every day. You will realize sleeping. I cannot give you an easier way! Just enter sleep as a piece of life – not as a man, woman or whatever else. It will take a little work, but just do it.

Start from tonight, because who knows if you will wake up or not. Over 150,000 people’s lives end every day. What is the guarantee it is not going to be you or me tonight? We do not wish it upon ourselves, but it is possible. Do not think death is something that happens only to other people. You and I will die. Every day, approach your sleep like death. In sleep, you are gone. The world is dead in your experience. Tomorrow morning is your next life.

So, approach sleep like death, without creating some stupid paranoia. Just keep everything aside – your body means nothing; your mind means nothing; your thoughts mean nothing; your emotions mean nothing. All the different identities that you have taken on mean nothing. Keep all of them aside and go to bed, simply, like nothing. Some thoughts will come – just ignore them. Anyway they are not yours.

You do not have to orientate yourself heavenward. If you look up, you are looking in the wrong direction. All that needs to happen is that you shift your attention from what you have accumulated to what is really you. That is all the orientation you need.

Editor’s Note: “Mystic’s Musings” includes more of Sadhguru’s wisdom on life, death and the human mechanism. Read the free sample or purchase the ebook.

A version of this article was originally published in the January 2016 Isha Forest Flower. Download as PDF on a “name your price, no minimum” basis or subscribe to the print version.

That which is always pleasant if we find that then only we can also be pleasant irrespective of what is happening around us.

As we are that but we feel we are the part of situations around. If we continue feeling like that then other situations will also impact us in some way or the other. When the impacts are manageable we anyway try to manage, otherwise we have to try to rise beyond the situations. To find out where we truly belong. Not in the midst of situations but above that.

In fact situations are manifestations of that what we truly are. Mind identifies with a little among them and that manifests a identity by itself. Through the whole process the thread remains as strong as it could be of the core. Hence, laying the path open for us always to come back home.

Even sitting at the home all the imaginations happen. But, we get so lost in the imagination that we can't notice that we are already at home as always.

Super Fun Rapid-Fire – Karan Johar With Sadhguru

Ready for a blend of wit and wisdom? Sadhguru’s quick responses to Karan Johar’s rapid-fire questions will leave you both chuckling and contemplating.

Sadhguru has said many times before how we need a global anthem that pays respect to all life on Earth. I've experienced personally how limited my own identity has been crafted growing up without tending to it at all, clinging onto Indian and American nationalism, the scientific community, and the city I live in...all of this had been done unconsciously without much care and attention.

Recently, I've taken the steps to go out of my way and learn about other countries, their economies, their successes, their history to build a connection with them. I feel a lot more balance in my mind. I've been reading about Angkor Wat, a structure in the Khmer Empire in present day Cambodia, Georgia, the people that went to India and mixed with the Dravidian population, Uganda, which holds 10% of the world's species of birds and where Sadhguru started a school.

I feel that since I've been responding to other nations and people that I'm becoming a citizen of the world, instead of trapped in the borders of my country. I feel a lot of pride in those in other continents and want to keep continuing this exercise. Sadhguru says our eduction system is totally ignorant of this exercise, especially Western societies, which rely heavily on morality and goodness, which is a very superficial way to use the intellect.

Anyone who's crafting their identity, I'd be happy to hear your experience in the comments!

Sadhguru often speaks about moving from belief to seeking. But how do you apply this when your parents are deeply conditioned by superstitions and traditions and aren't open to questioning them? How can you encourage them to think?

Q: In many cases you have said to your disciples, "I can only show you the path. I cannot liberate you." Does that mean you will not dissolve their karma?

Sadhguru: I am not talking about death when I talk to you about these things. I am talking about your present life so that you can live this life fruitfully. Do not wait for me to pull the plug, living a stupid life until then. I am teaching you practices and asking you to take your life into your hands so that you live gracefully and sensibly. Take care of your own life, work towards realization so that you live an elevated life here.

Those who have given themselves totally to me, even for a single moment, they do not have to worry about their liberation. Liberation is assured. To live gracefully or not, that is not assured. That is something that you have to earn. There is no other way.

Questioner: Namaskaram Sadhguru, Could you tell us about the path of Bhairagini Maa and what "Bhairagini" means? And how is it different from Brahmacharya?

Sadhguru: Raga means color. In a way, "Bhairagini" means one who has become the color of the Devi. Brahmacharya is to become vairagya - that means "colorless." In the English language, the word "colorless" has a negative connotation, but it also means "that which is transparent." So, a Brahmachari is looking at how to get into a state of vairagya, to make life transparent, where clarity is the ultimate goal - clarity which will see through life and death. A Bhairagini is like the moon; the moon is not shining by itself, but in reflection of the sun. The sun is powering the moon, but still, most people enjoy the moon than the sun. They will look up at the moon; it is more approachable, it has more variety and looks different every day. It has twenty- eight versions. The sun is the same every day - day in and day out.

These are two different paths. Until now, we have not focused on the path of Bhairagini much, we just have about half a dozen who are in the temple, but more could go into this as a path - not just to maintain and conduct the temple processes. It is just that Isha has a brand and image problem; we do not want too many people wearing red and walking around. It is not about what people will think about us, but for the effectiveness of what we are doing, image is important. In many ways though, we have crossed the time where we have to be worried about our image in the world. In the coming one or two years, more people could go on this path. It is a beautiful path if you give yourself totally. If you try to analyze it logically, you will go mad, but if you give yourself, you will be in an ecstatic and beautiful state.

So, for those of you who are proud that you have a big heart and no brain, it is a very good path to walk. Or, if your brain is subtle enough to go beyond the rudimentary logic of what is black and white, right and wrong, if your intelligence can slip beyond this and look at life, then it is a beautiful path. It takes a certain subtlety of intelligence to be able to look beyond logic in a logical way, otherwise logic will tell you this okay, this is not okay, this is in, this is out. Devi is both "in-out" and if you give yourself as a Bhairagini or otherwise - it is a different mode of energy completely. Dhyanalinga is not like that; he is the same every day - reliable. But she is going on in her own way. I live in her backyard, so I know.

The path of a Bhairagini means to take the color of the Devi, not just in clothes, but in every way. Your blood is anyway red, your head should also become red, everything should become red within you. You don't retain anything of yourself. But should I lose myself? If you want to find something worthwhile in your life, you have to lose yourself; there is no other way. If you are trying to preserve the petty personality of who you are, then all the best. Right until the last days, the same issues will go on endlessly, believe me. I want you to look back and see - you may be in different atmospheres, but the struggle is the same, the problems are the same within the mindscape. The atmosphere might have changed, the content might have changed, but the fundamental has not changed and believe me, many people die like this.

Just to satisfy the urge of food and the urge to reproduce - an entire life will go. You can glorify it and romanticize it, but please understand, that is how it will go. I will not go on repeating this to you, I have said this enough times. For those of you who have a working brain, invest in something. I am saying that from my experience of life, the way I searched and struggled to know, this is coming too bloody easy for you. Yes! So, if you want to become a Bhairagini, it is a wonderful way to be. As everything else in Isha, I have not paid enough attention to them yet. I plan to shut down travel and these things will happen. Then you will start to wonder...when will Sadhguru travel again?

I've noticed that my body feels wobbly when I walk. I tend to sway from side to side, bump into people unintentionally, and move around a lot without realizing it. Even in videos, I notice a lack of steadiness in my movements.

Which Hatha Yoga practices can help me develop better balance, coordination, and physical stability?

All the horrors of what a human being can be, says Sadhguru, including one’s jealousy, anger, hatred and more, can provide the perfect manure to produce beautiful, fragrant flowers.

Q: How do I free myself from the jealousy that arises within me?

Sadhguru: As long as you feel you are insufficient the way you are, the moment you see someone whom you think has more than you, you feel jealous. When you are very joyful, are you jealous? No. Only when you are unhappy, you are jealous. Do not worry about jealousy. If every moment of your life, your energies are bubbling with ecstasy, how will jealousy be there? Instead of trying to battle jealousy, it is better to work towards making your experience of life complete.

Jealousy is not Your Nature

Freedom will not happen by giving up anything because what is there to give up? Right now, there is no jealousy in you. Jealousy is not a part of your nature. Now and then you create it. If you had created it because you wanted it, then it is your joy. If you are happy in anger, fear and jealousy, create them. But that is not so, they are not happy experiences for you. So, why have you created them? You create them because you do not have the necessary awareness within yourself.

If you really want to be free, first and foremost, you should understand where your bondage is – what you are identified with. The moment you are identified, you are in confrontation with existence. The whole spiritual process is to dis-identify you, so that you are no longer in conflict with existence. You are just experiencing everything the way it is, not trying to label it this way or that way, or trying to make a divine or devil out of it.

Turning Filth into Fragrance

If you use the horror of who you are as manure, the beauty of who you could be, could flower. What is this “horror,” and what does it mean? When you find a person horribly prejudiced and jealous, angry, hateful and fearful, that is the horror of what a human being can be.

These days people talk a lot about organic vegetables. What it means is that you like vegetables nourished by shit, not by fertilizer coming from a bag! Somewhere, you understand that this is what produces the best kind of flowers, fruits or vegetables – it is the best manure.

This is the logic of life. This is something you need to understand, as symbolism and a psychological tool, and also spiritually. The simple logic of your mind says that if you want to produce good flowers in the garden, put a lot of flowers into the soil, and more beautiful flowers will come out of it. That is not how existence works. That is logical, but existence is not logical. The soil demands stinking waste, not fragrant flowers. Stinking filth is not just okay, that is what the soil demands. If you put it to the root, wonderfully fragrant flowers will come out of it. This is the way the existence is working.

In Tune With Your Own Nature

All these horrors which make you into a horror – your anger, hatred, jealousy, prejudices – please see with how much intensity they happen within you. If only meditation happened with that much intensity, wouldn’t it be wonderful? Wouldn’t you be going places? Definitely you would.

All the things which make a human being into a horror travel on the basic vehicle of intensity. If your anger, fear or jealousy were weak, it would not mean anything. When they burn within you, that is when they are something. And they always burn within you with great intensity.

One element of spirituality is there with you, the only question is to learn how to make use of it. If you use the filth and apply it to the root, it is good. If you smear it on your face, it is not good. If you do not have this awareness, you will try to apply fragrance to the roots and may kill the plant. You need to apply filth, not fragrance. That is how the whole world works, and that is how you should also work.

Fire, not Smoke

Do not try to work on the byproducts. You feel you are not sufficient simply because you are not well within yourself. Anybody who is not feeling blissful is actually ill. Maybe you are in a state of socially accepted wellbeing – because the majority of people are with you, and this is a democracy – but you are ill in terms of life. No attempt has been made to look at yourself carefully and understand that the seat of your experience is within you. If the seat of your experience is within you, and you have to decide and manage how well you live here, the first thing is to turn inward and look at the nature of who you are.

If that does not happen, your wellbeing is accidental. When your wellbeing is accidental, jealousy, hatred, and insecurity are a natural part of your life. It is like we are burning something and there is smoke. Do not battle with the smoke. You have to battle with the fire.

Editor's Note: This is an excerpt from Sadhguru’s 2-in-1 book “Emotion: The Juice of Life & Relationships: Bond or Bondage”, available on Flipkart and Amazon.

I want to continue doing Devi Sadhana for rest of my life. Currently I am practicing Bhuta shudhhi, 3 devi Stutis and 12 min Achala Arpanam . It takes me almost 1 hour to complete all the practices and it is a little hectic for me but still I have started feeling that 3 devi Stutis is not enough. Should I gradually increase it to 11 times and Achala Arpanam 21 mins? Please guide me....

Sorry if I got the quote wrong, i wrote it from memory.

Brahma the creator. I enjoy studying theology which is the scientific study of religion.

I did shambhavi mahaamudra continued from 9 march to 13 october. I didn't do it since then . I had horse throat and nausea . So I didn't do it . And since then stopped . It's been great .

Edit: its the Snake ring and wearing it on left ring finger with the head up side

Sadhguru answers a question on staying peaceful and joyful even in the face of adversity.

Questioner: When I do my meditation, everything is peaceful and quiet and I feel like I am getting somewhere. But the real test comes when there is adversity and I forget everything and again go back to the same old way of dealing with things. I feel that my practices have started making a mark but when something happens, I go back to the same old ways.

Sadhguru: You already repeated this twice, “I go back.” What does going back mean? It means that an agitated way of existence is your original nature, isn’t it? Is that your original nature?

Questioner: Yes.

Sadhguru: Then why do you want to lose it?

Questioner: No. By “original”, I mean that is the way we have been dealing with it all our lives.

Sadhguru: If we are so identified with that agitated way, how can we lose it? If you were to say, “I was very peaceful during the practice but when adversity happens, I am going away,” that would be better, isn’t it? Not just better, it is most essential to see, “I am going away from my original nature.” Then you will naturally want to come back to who you are. But you are clearly telling yourself, “My original nature is agitation, my fancy yoga nature is peacefulness. So, naturally I go back to my original nature.” Isn’t it natural to go back home.

You must change this within yourself. Right now, the way you think is the way you become. The whole mess of your mind can be changed just by the way you think. When you say, “My original nature is agitation,” it is trying to establish itself. If you see “My original nature is peace but I have lost it,” then you will naturally want to go back to your original nature.

Your Original Nature

Which is your original nature? This is not my teaching. You tell me, what is your original nature? Or if you do not know what this “original nature” stuff is, at least tell me, when you were a child, were you agitated or were you peaceful and joyful? If we can’t go back to what is really our original, essential nature, shall we at least go back to square one? Shall we start the game from there? At least become how you were when you were five years of age. That much peace and joy must be there.

That’s not a great amount. A lot of people talk as if becoming a child is the highest thing in the world. No. It took so much effort to become an adult. Becoming a child is not the highest thing. For those who have completely distorted and destroyed themselves, we say at least go back to square one. Start there at least. Don’t fall off the board.

So, don’t keep telling yourself that whatever you experienced during meditation is one fanciful moment that you somehow achieved. It is not an achievement. That is the way you are every moment of your life if you don’t mess yourself. Is that the reality? Is your messed up situation your original nature or is your original nature simply the way you are when nothing is messing you? Which is at least closer to your original nature? Un-messed, isn’t it?

Look back and see what is the most peaceful and joyful moment you have known in your life. Let’s start from there. Let us see that as your original nature right now. It is not, but at least let us mentally assume that, “That is the way I am, but for some reason, I have gotten lost.” Once you see that you are lost, everything in you will want to find a way back.

The Right Input

Please understand how your mind functions. If you say something to it in a certain way, if you put a wrong input, the whole energy of the mind starts functioning in that particular way. There are so many people on the planet whose lives have been absolutely poisoned simply because of a wrong thought that they identified themselves with. I would say almost the whole world is in this condition. They identified themselves with a particular type of thinking; these identifications generally happen when they are very young and certain things are dominant, and now you can’t think beyond it.

Suppose I were to take away all the male and female hormones from your body. I am not talking about the physiological aspect, but in your attitude and the way you look at your life, do you know how you would become in three days’ time? You would definitely become like a completely carefree child. You will not constantly be aware of your body parts. You would sit, walk and exist in a completely different way.

This is how just a little bit of chemical change that happened in the physiology to serve a particular purpose of nature has distorted your whole perception of life. This is not the only thing. There are a million other things like this. Whatever you identify with, that completely distorts your perception of life. The whole of Inner Engineering is to set the mind in the right perspective so that your limited identifications are taken away mentally, and your energy is unchained from its present bondages.

This bondage will not be completely released just because of this, but the first step towards that has been taken if you unchain yourself from those little identifications that you have taken on. There is a whole lot of karmic structure that will take its time, but if you do not set this process going, you will keep building that, not wearing it out. If you take away your strong identifications with limited things around you, then you have set up the basic process of dissolution of karmic structure.

This is so relatable. This happens with me all the time. Mind gets motivated and demotivated. Maybe that's the way of it's functioning.

Clarity sets us free from this circle. By making us remembering we are not of mind but beyond it.

Then motivation or demotivation just happens like two processes in the mind. We remain free. As we are.

Maybe these are different manifestations of mind itself. Which in turn is nothing but the same reality what we are.

Clarity makes us available to that reality or gives us the realisation of we being that reality itself.

Does this mean life is just going to be suffering after Samyama? 😅😭

A lot of times, Sadhguru talks about enhancing one's perception, and then comes expression.

These days, social media is so full of all kinds of things that you hardly see people perceiving something first and then expressing it. Most people want to express themselves because they want to grow their social media following, and for that, one has to keep creating content.

Literally, take any topic and blabber something about it. Whatever feels right, people talk about it freely, without any sense of hesitation.

Of course, there's a fan following for everything. It's an unfortunate reality.

To perceive something, one must first step back and become silent. We often see yogis sitting with their eyes closed because they want to perceive first.

To perceive something, and more importantly, to be able to see things the way they are, takes a lot of work.

But people on social media seem to have neither done the necessary inner work nor have any hesitation before expressing themselves. At least if they had some hesitation before expressing themselves, they might do a lot of good to the world by taking the time to look at things more deeply.

Unfortunately, even that hesitation seems to be missing.

Ever since I started mediating with MoM and later done IE I have experienced a surge in clarity. Over time my old attachments and also my demons have fallen off. What I'm left with is a desire for a very simple and a humble way to be. It has also made me realise what I need the most in life and that is the only thing that is on my mind now. That thought or idea is with me all day and night. That state I'm in right is the closest thing that I can call a devotion which I'm normally indifferent to as it normally appears as make-believe thing to me.

Am I going crazy or is it a part of being on a spiritual path?

I am no longer seeing them as a tragedy, I see them as Kailashi!

HHMD !

Sadhguru says that everyone is trying to multiply their life…through money, through things, relationships, etc…Then through their striving they start adding things..then at some point they start subtracting things, and finally they start dividing…I think I am in the transition between adding things one by one (by shopping or for my biology related hobby) to subtracting…starting to view the things I have as extra weight which can be gotten rid of…I actually remember when I stayed in another apartment and I took nothing with me but a sleeping bag, I felt so free, like all my things weren’t tying me down anymore…I know I can’t just give everything away right away because I’ll accumulate more stuff…but I want it to happen naturally…maybe to the point that go back to that apartment with one set of clothes and a little bit of cash for maintenance.