07:51

I Don't Believe In Religion: Is Religion Important?

by Sadhguru Jaggi

Rated
4.8
Type
talks
Activity
Meditation
Suitable for
Everyone
Plays
2.1k

Sadhguru answers a question from a person who is unable to connect with either of his parents’ religions, and is wondering whether religion is important. He incorporates wisdom, humour and his own experiences to deliver a compelling and thought provoking talk.

ReligionBeliefsWisdomThought ProvokingHumilityKarmaConfidenceAtheismTheismIntellectual AlertnessBelief Vs KnowledgeKarma And Self ResponsibilityConfidence And ClarityAtheism Vs TheismHumorExperience

Transcript

See,

With all due respect to all the religious people,

See religion essentially means belief in something.

Whenever somebody says,

I'm a religious person,

They refer to themselves as believers.

Yes?

Belief means what?

Means you do not know something,

But you are not willing to admit,

I do not know,

So you believe it.

I'm saying if you do not know something,

Why don't you just say,

I do not know?

Hello?

Is it okay?

I do not know something.

I say I do not know,

Because the I do not know is a tremendous possibility.

Only when you say I do not know,

The longing to know,

The seeking to know and the possibility of knowing becomes a living reality in your life.

Everything I do not know,

I believe.

This has led to a whole lot of things.

One thing it does is,

It brings you confidence.

I believe means it brings you confidence.

But confidence without clarity is a disaster.

This is a disaster that is unfolding in the world in many different levels.

People who don't know a damn thing,

Who can't see what's in front of them,

They are super confident.

It's dangerous.

If you cannot see,

At least you must be hesitant,

Isn't it?

Hello?

If you cannot see,

You must at least be hesitant.

But you cannot see,

But you're confident.

This is what belief gives you,

Confidence without clarity.

How do you arrive at your belief?

In many ways… Can I tell you a joke,

Is it okay?

It's a serious question.

Are you okay?

You're looking so serious,

I'm scared of you.

This happened in New York City.

A eight-year-old boy came home from school in the afternoon.

At home,

He had a very progressive mother.

Obviously,

She was single.

He came home and asked,

Mama,

Is God man or woman?

See,

This is a big debate in America.

Is God a man or a woman is a very big debate in America.

You know in the last election,

They tried to settle it and you know what happened.

The mother thought be… being a progressive woman,

She thought through this all these gender politics that are going on in the country and after much thinking,

She said both.

Then the boy went into deep thought.

After some time,

He came back and asked,

Mama,

Is God black or white?

You know in the previous election,

They tried to settle this issue.

Because racial politics is a very big thing,

She thought through all the racial politics that are going on in the country after much,

Much thinking,

She said both.

Then the boy went into profound thought.

After much thinking,

He came back and asked,

Mama,

Is God straight or gay?

She thought through all the politics concerned with that aspect of life and she said both.

Then the boy jumped in joy,

I got it,

I got it,

It's Michael Jackson.

I don't know how you arrived at yours.

You must understand,

This is a godless culture.

In this culture,

We always told you,

Your life is your karma.

Yes or no?

You've forgotten?

In this culture,

We always told you,

Your life is your karma.

This means your life is your making.

There's nobody managing you from there.

Your life is entirely your karma.

You are tall,

You are short,

You are capable,

You are incapable,

You can do something,

You cannot do something.

We say,

You're karma.

We have… we've been telling you forever,

Your life is entirely your making.

But this we have turned it into something else and now we are also start looking up,

Uparwalam.

You're all engineering students,

You tell me,

Is this planet round or flat?

Participants – round.

It's round?

Some of you are saying no,

This girl.

Is it a round planet I'm asking you?

Yes.

Is it spinning?

So you're not even on the North Pole,

You're at this Chennai.

Here if you look up and the planet is spinning,

You're inevitably looking up in the wrong direction.

Hello?

You don't even know which is up.

In this cosmos,

Do you know which is up and which is down?

Hello?

Is it somewhere marked this side up?

Can you ever figure out which side is up in this cosmos?

No?

Then you're looking up at what?

Then you do not even know what is up,

How do you know who is up?

Does it mean to say I created the universe?

No.

Obviously,

Before you and me came,

Everything was here,

Isn't it?

So now you must at least say,

I really don't know.

The problem is somebody is a theist,

Somebody is an atheist.

They are not different people,

Just different clothing,

Same nonsense.

One person believes what he does not know in a positive way,

Another person believes what he does not know in a negative way,

Both of them are believers of something that they do not know,

Isn't it?

What… what is the problem with the human being that you cannot admit I do not know?

It's so wonderful of you,

So human of you to say I do not know,

Isn't it?

If you do not know,

If you realize that you truly do not know,

Your intelligence will be always alert,

It never sleeps.

Always,

Every moment of your life,

Even in your sleep it will stay awake.

If you realize I truly do not know,

This believing has made you just eat pongal and you know,

Just become lethargic.

The world has become lethargic.

When I say lethargic,

Not physically,

Intelligence has become lethargic because they believe something.

Everybody believes some nonsense.

Can we be straight enough?

The youth of this nation,

I'm asking you,

The youth of this nation,

Are we straight enough to say what I know I know,

What I do not know I do not know,

Is this okay with you?

The youth of India,

I'm asking you.

Meet your Teacher

Sadhguru JaggiMcMinnville, TN, USA

4.8 (249)

Recent Reviews

Ilva

August 18, 2024

Thank you very much. This is truly helpful. “We are all believers” is a helpful thought when I conversate with my Christian friend, when she tries to tell me Christianity is a better believe then other ones. Because I know, like you, we as the world believe the same. sometimes people forget we are all unknowing and just believing, and that’s okay

Sharon

November 25, 2020

Thought provoking, makes me want to dive into learning more about believing and religion ❤️🙏

Fernando

February 2, 2019

Simple wisdom. Thank you!

Shimila

January 27, 2019

Inspiring, thought provoking and funny..... How I learn best. Namaste ❤️🙏

Alicia

January 25, 2019

Always a joy to listen to 🙏

Herpreet

January 25, 2019

Always wise ! Thank you! 🌅❣️🙏

Angela

January 25, 2019

More, please 🙏 There’s so much I do not know...

Vaibhav

January 25, 2019

I really like this argument.

Bo

January 24, 2019

Interesting once again.

Patti

January 24, 2019

Yes!! Thank you!!

Donna

January 24, 2019

Always thought provoking and enjoyable!

EreZ

January 24, 2019

Such a clever explanation. It can make a believer out of anyone (or not:))

Nancy

January 24, 2019

The USA would be a much better place if people took this to heart. I think this clip pertains to religion AND politics. I would like to hear more clips on Sadhguru’s interpretation regarding the political frenzy that is going on. I personally cannot “identify” with either polarized group for EXACTLY the reasons discussed in this clip.

watso

January 24, 2019

Wonderful. Thank You.

More from Sadhguru Jaggi

Loading...

Related Meditations

Loading...

Related Teachers

Loading...
© 2025 Sadhguru Jaggi. All rights reserved. All copyright in this work remains with the original creator. No part of this material may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner.

How can we help?

Sleep better
Reduce stress or anxiety
Meditation
Spirituality
Something else