Insights For Entrepreneurs | TiE Global With Sadhguru In Challenging Times

Yogi, mystic and visionary, Sadhguru is a spiritual master with a difference. Renowned for an arresting blend of profundity and pragmatism, his life and work serves as a reminder that yoga is a contemporary science, vitally relevant to our times.

Transcript

So today I'd like to start, Sadhguru, By asking, You know, We've had a devastating effect on the world from this virus. It's changed the balance of power in the relationships and societies. But it's not a human invader, It is a virus. How should we as individuals, As society and as countries think about this situation that is happening to us? Sadhguru – Hmm, Namaskaram. Well, When you said it's not a human invader, But virus, You're making it like being infected by a virus or this virus pandemic is worse than the World War II that you were referring to in some way. Well, We need to understand this. Most people don't know what is a war. Like for example, In India, Though we have seen four wars, And America, Probably in the post-World War I'm saying, America must have seen about four to five wars. But for India, The wars are fought on the border. Our soldiers have fought on the border, Sacrificed their lives. But for the Americans, The wars are fought somewhere else. But to. . . Just yesterday, We are commemorating the end of World War II, You asked the Londoners what war meant at that time, Because every home was destroyed, And around you, There's a whole lot of destruction. That is not a joke. So virus is not as big as a war. Though we have to handle it in a war footing, It is not as big, Let's not make it. . . Let's not magnify it that big, Because being shot at, Being bombed out is a different experience than. . . Right now, This virus, It is not even being carried by some mice or mosquito or something else that we cannot control. We are the carriers. All we have to do is if we behave responsibly and consciously, We can stop the virus in its tracks right now. Because without us, It can't go anywhere. When we are the transportation system for the virus, Isn't it in our hands to stop? But that's not how a war happens. When a war happens, It's a totally different affair. So having said that, But at the same time, This is so universal, That is, This is literally covering the whole planet or the entire human population. So it is big, It is not small. Well, Many things we have been doing. Well, All of you are entrepreneurs, What I say, You may not like a little bit, But I want you to sit back and think because right now, Economy has sort of come to a near standstill situation. When machine has stopped, It's a good time to maintain and fix that machine. Because a running machine, It's very difficult to fix, Nobody will have the focus to fix a machine, Especially if it's running well, Then nothing can happen, I must tell you this. In 2008, When I was at the World Economic Forum, Well, There was a bit of a, You know, Meltdown, And everybody was carrying a long face. These thousand and odd people, Most of them billionaires, They were a few billionaire. . . Billions less and they were carrying such long faces. So they asked me to handle a session called recession and depression. I said recession is bad enough, You don't have to get depressed on top of it. And above all, Right now the way we have built the economic engine on this planet, That it is going at a certain speed, If the. . . If the economy goes down a little bit, You will be depressed. But if economy goes full steam, We will be damned on this planet. So this is a choice, Whether we want to be damned in the next thirty to fifty years' time or we want to be a little depressed, We don't have to be depressed. This is not death, Okay? This. . . This stoppage of economy does not mean death of human life, Nor does it mean economic collapse. It's a slowdown for sure. It is going to hurt every one of us. As individuals, It's going to hurt us. As entrepreneurs, Small enterprises, Large enterprises, Very mega businesses, Nations, Every one of us have pain to go through. One important thing is during this period, All of us should take the responsibility of staying alive. This is the most important thing. Because we are doing business, We're doing enterprise, Only because we value life. Because we thought our enterprises, Our business. . . Businesses will add value to our life, That's the only reason why we are doing this. So human enterprise is fine. But right now a situation has come, Which has slowed us down a little bit, Not a little bit, Quite a bit. Certain industries may have to just close down because they won't be able to recover from this kind of a dip. And human behavior, If the virus stays on, Effectively killing people for twelve months, Human behavior will change quite significantly, And many businesses may become redundant. People are fearing God may become redundant, They are scared. If temples, Mosques, Chur. . . Churches don't open, God may disappear. So they are fighting for that also. So I'm saying the insecurity is not just among you, Even the God is feeling insecure, That if nobody comes to pray for twelve months, What do you do? After that, They may not come at all. They may do fine without it. So many. . . But with this as well, You know, One of the most profound changes to society right now has been the disconnection of humanity. You know, We've been separated from each other as businesses, As families, As groups, And fear has set in. How do you suggest that, First of all, How do you suggest we can cope with disconnection? And secondly, How can we cope with the fear when we do come to return? About disconnection, See, People. . . When economy was running well, Businesses were running well, Families were complaining that we are disconnected, There's no time for each other. Now, Six weeks is not going to disconnect you from the world. It's a good time to connect with families, Friends and everything. Anyway, We are connected, So connected with, You know, Social media and so many other ways. Anytime you can pick up a phone or send a message, We are connected. Even people who are working in the same offices were sending emails to each other, They were not talking to each other. So nothing has changed for them in many ways. So let's not exaggerate that disconnection. But is there a concern, A serious concern, Not a joke? This is not going to be a joke. I am not saying this is not of any great consequence, It is. But at the same time, Tell me, Would we have, As human beings, As societies, As nations, Always all of us trying to be, You know, Do better than others, Would we have stopped and looked at how to redirect the economy? We would not have done, Till a major disaster happens. I would say this is a soft disaster. Unfortunately, Over a quarter million people have died. But if climate change disasters happen, Much more will die. So instead of that, This is a soft one, This is the time that we need to restructure our businesses, Restructure the way we run the economy, What is success itself we need to redefine. For example, In the last fifty years from 1970, Sixty percent of the vertebrate population has disappeared. There are many, Many explanations being given, Acquisitions being made about where the virus came from, How it happened and all this. But the fundamental simple thing, See, Yourself also, I'm saying both of you are outside the country or you're in India and he's in UK, Right? So I'm in Manchester and Mahavir is in India. Yeah, I'm in Jaipur. Don't tell me you're a United fan or something. I'm sorry, I can't disclose my team affiliation because Danny is one of my best friends. Okay, That's a good one. Now, The thing is, See, Why is it that many Indians have gone out? Because there was no opportunity here, So they've gone out and thrived all over the world. Similarly, Any life will do the same thing. I'm speaking for the virus, Because virus is also a life. We cannot be alive without microbes and pathogens within our body. Without bacteria and virus, We cannot be alive. This one virus is right now causing trouble, So we think virus is our enemy. No. Virus is also life. They were doing fine among the animals, Especially among other mammals in the animal kingdom, But the vertebrate population has gone down sixty percent since 1970. And this. . . The way the population is going down, What it means is, For the virus, There is no habitat. It has to jump somewhere. So it found us somehow, Whether it jumped in a marketplace or a laboratory, Whatever, This is a debate, We do not know what the answers are for this. But it has jumped one way or the other, And this is not the first time it's jumped. Many times these things have happened. When the Spanish flu happened, Over fifty million people died. In India, Twelve to seventeen million people died. That's not a small number. When the world's population was just two billion people, Fifty million people died. So right now a quarter million people have died. And especially in a time like this, Where our ability to travel is quite limitless, Every day people are flying all over the world, In spite of that, It is pretty good, Because our awareness, Our medical systems, Everything is way better. So we can make this disaster. . . We can make this virus situation into a minor aberration in our life, Rather than making it into a major calamity. If only we conduct this properly. About fear. Fear means, You must understand this, About what may happen tomorrow. So essentially what is happening is, Right now there is a challenging time in front of us, True, Really challenging times, Like never before for our generation of people, This is the most challenging times we are facing. When there is a challenge in front of you, You must be at your best. This is the most important thing. When there is a challenge in front of you, Your competence becomes the most important thing that you need to do. Tell me when you are in fear, Are you very competent? No. The basic faculties will be lost. You will become debilitated with fear. So what is the logic behind this? The thing is just this, Whenever there is a challenge in front of you, Your own intelligence turns against you. Right now, Let's not decide what to do tomorrow, Because we still do not know how the virus will play out. We do not know. Everybody is making their own guesses, But nobody. . . I'm listening to all the scientific stuff that's going on in the world, What doctors are saying, Politicians are saying, Economists are saying, But the clear picture is this, We really do not know how things will be in another two months' time. Nobody knows for sure, How it's going to play out. People are saying it's already mutated into ten different forms, Whether it'll respond to the vaccine, How many ten vaccines for 7. 6 billion people, When will you give that vaccine? This is not practical things, Anything that's being spoken. So we have to wait. When we wait, The best thing to do is right now to upgrade ourselves. Upgrading ourselves means our physiological capabilities, Physically we must become fitter. In the next one month, All of you Thai people set this up, The next one month, You must be at least ten percent fitter than what you are right now, Physically. Mentally, You must be ten percent sharper, I can give you tools for this. And emotionally, You must be at least ten percent more balanced. Energetically, You must be at least ten percent more effervescent. All these things will be most vital, When you have to step out and face that new situation that we have still not figured. Let us not assume this will happen, That will happen, Because we don't know what will happen. How many of us will be wiped out? How many of us will be here? How many businesses will be gone? How. . . What will be relevant, What will be not relevant? We have no clear picture, Only guesswork is going on. So using our imagination, We are causing fear. Instead of that, This time around, Let's invest it upon ourselves to make ourselves into more competent, More balanced and better human beings. That's the only way you can face an unknown situation. Thank you, Guruji. Now, In a moment, I will. . . I will pass to Mahavir with some questions from our Thai chapters around the world. But just before we do that, Do you think that a crisis like this will change the relationship that we have to our material possessions, Our relationship with wealth even? Because these are also very important questions for business leaders, Is will this change the nature of what we think is important when it has been money and wealth in the large part for such a long time in society? See, Most human beings are existing like they're immortal. People think. . . Most people think other people die, You know. No, No, You and me will die. It's just that we don't want to have an untimely death, That's all. But you and me will die, We are all dying short. So now virus has brought the mortal nature of our existence right up in our faces, Which is a very good thing. If we don't die, It's a good thing. But we realize we are mortal, But we did not die is a very good thing to happen to a human being. Because mortality means just this, That you understand that you are on a limit. . . Limited lease of time. If you understand that you are on a limited lease of time, You will definitely organize your life in a more meaningful way than the madness with which people are going on right now. Definitely it needs to happen. I hope it happens. But after nearly five weeks of lockdown, In India, They opened the liquor shops. Whoa! Everybody forgot everything and they piled up like animals on each. . . On top of each other, They had to close it down now. Now they're doing home delivery of liquor for the first time. Get drunk and be home, Don't come out and do a mess. So nothing changed for these people at least. But if definitely the virus situation and this fear and this social distancing lasts for more than nine to twelve months, Definitely the way we relate to what we possess will definitely change and that is a welcome change. Thank you Guruji. And now I'd like to pass to Mahavir Sharma in Jaipur with some questions from our Thai Global Chapters. Thank you Vikas and thank you Sadhguruji. So the first question is from two chapters across different parts of the world, Singapore and Silicon Valley. And I'm changing the topic from coronavirus and the current crisis to general entrepreneurship and business and I think we need to move on as you rightly said in your replies. So as I told you, We have startups, Young startups who are struggling, Cash flow issues were, You know, Becoming tougher and tougher, Established business people also struggling and not knowing what the future is. So my question is that all of us have to become stronger as you said mentally and emotionally and also spiritually in my opinion. The inner engineering that we all need to work or rework as entrepreneurs, As startups, As professionals, What should one do to restructure oneself from within? See, It's going to be a challenging terrain, No question. Whatever the nature of your business. Certain businesses will do very well post virus for their own reasons, But even those businesses will have to be agile and handle the new terrain that will come in front of them. If you want to approach, Let us say you're in Rajasthan, Let's say you want to travel the Thar desert. You would want a machine which is well engineered, Isn't it? You don't want to go into a desert with a badly engineered machine where anything could happen. So now we are approaching a place where the terrain is not going to be as you expect. Unexpected terrain that we may hit lots of bumps, Lots of pits, All kinds of things. Nobody knows what kind of challenges it will throw, But we clearly know it is going to be a very challenging situation. For anybody who is managing anything, Businesses, Nations, Institutions, Individual lives, Everybody will have their own kind of challenges. So when this happens, The most important thing is that you're well engineered. What does engineering mean? See, We say something is well engineered, Because it functions the way we want it, Isn't it? If a machine functions the way we want it, If the building functions the way we want it, We say this is a well engineered structure. So similarly, In your life, Your body, Your mind, Your emotion, Your energy should work for you. Just now, He was mentioning about fear. Fear, Anxiety, Anger, Resentment, Hatred, Whatever, Anything that is unpleasant within you. For this, People may go on giving many reasons. Today, There are over seventy-two thousand exotic names for psychological disorders of various kinds. You can give as many names as you want. But essentially, What has happened is, Your intelligence has turned against you for some reason, Whatever the reason. Fundamentally, Your intelligence has turned against you. There are only two kinds of sufferings in human life, Physical suffering and mental suffering. If the virus gets us, Then there is physical suffering, That's a different matter, We need to deal with it completely differently. The rest is all mental suffering. Ninety-five percent of human suffering is mental suffering. What mental suffering means is, You are on. . . When it comes to suffering, You are on self-help. You don't need any outside help. Right now, Sitting at home, You will think about something that may happen ten days ago and already suffer, Something which does not exist. What is it that human beings are suffering? What happened ten years ago, They still suffer. What happened ten years ago does not exist. So what you are suffering is, You are suffering your memory. Or what may happen day after tomorrow, They already suffer. This means you are suffering your imagination. So if you are suffering your memory and imagination, One thing we need to understand is that, As human beings, We have a very vivid sense of memory. That's why our lives are so rich. No other creature on this planet has the kind of memory and detailed memory as we have. And no other creature has a fantastic sense of imagination that human beings have. Now you are suffering your memory, You are suffering your imagination means, You are suffering your evolution of becoming a human being. So most people would like to have half the brain that they have right now, So that they can be peaceful. So when it doesn't work, That's why they soak it in alcohol, So that half is preserved for some other time. And they feel little peaceful for some time. Well, You know, When it goes completely out of control, The doctors even. . . Even going to the extreme stage of doing what is called as lobotomy, That a part of the brain is removed. If a part of your brain is removed, No fear, No anxiety, No some. . . Nothing peaceful, But no possibilities either. So I'm saying, What is a possibility you are making it into a huge problem, Simply because you are not well engineered. What does being well engineered mean when it comes to a human being? You heard of. . . You're in UK, So you definitely heard of Charles Darwin, Right? Nobody did not hear about him. He didn't come from Manchester, I think. No, He wasn't perfect, So. . . I get you. You must be from the city, Manchester City, That's why you're talking about perfection. So, Charles Darwin went about. . . I'm making it simplistic, But he was saying something like this, A goat could have become a giraffe over a million year time. . . Period. A pig could have become an elephant over many more million years. But a monkey became human rather too quickly. So quickly that anthropologists are continuously looking for a missing link, Which they have not found yet. So what it means is, In terms of DNA difference, If you look at it, Between a chimpanzee and yourself, The DNA difference is only 1. 23%. 1. 23% is not much of a difference. So physiologically, We are very, Very close to a chimpanzee. But in terms of our intelligence and our competence and our awareness, We are worlds apart from a chimpanzee. So right now, Human problem is just this. They have an intelligence for which they don't have a stable enough base, So they are suffering their own intelligence. You can call it tension, Fear, Anxiety, Madness, Misery, Whatever you want to call it. Essentially, Human beings are suffering their own. . . Their own intelligence. Intelligence is a solution. Intelligence is not a problem. Unfortunately, Most people are experiencing this as a problem. This is why inner engineering becomes very, Very significant. If you are an entrepreneur, You must understand, You are into a venture. You are. . . In a venture means, It is just one step short of an adventure, Okay? You are seeking. . . You are seeking challenges. If you did not want challenges, Rajasthan government would have been a fine place, You know, To work. But you become an entrepreneur because you're consciously seeking a challenge. This means you are into a venture, Which is not an adventure, But just one step short of that. That means you should not suffer unexpected situations. Unexpected situations, Undefined situations means for an entrepreneur, There are a million possibilities in that, He has to look at it. Thank you. Thank you so much. Going on with my next question, Nothing to do with the current situation, And this is from Anjali in New York. This is Ram from Taiyukanorth and a team in Taiyupi. You know, What causes, And this is a very generic question, Feelings of unpleasantness, Disconnect, Dissatisfaction, Unhappiness within oneself in life. And these things invade yourselves and actually you underdeliver or underwork, And that creates a challenge for everyone and one has to compromise on whatever business or job that one is doing. Or sometimes even people become procrastinated because they're comparing themselves from other people. So this emotional dis. . . And many a times people don't even know that they have these inner challenges because or satisfaction. . . Dissatisfaction. How does one control or deal with inner emotions and become stronger emotionally? You said underperform. What I say. . . What I say right now, This is not to insult anybody, But I'm saying over ninety-five percent of the human beings on the planet are underperform all the time. They may be comparing themselves to somebody else and doing little better than them and they think they're okay. It is not a way to look at life. The important thing is, Am I at my fullest possibility? Whether I'm better than somebody or worse than somebody, This is not the issue. Unfortunately, That's become the issue, But that's not how it should be. Whether I'm able to find full expression to all that I have in me. If you go by that context, Over ninety-five percent of the population is seriously underperforming. If. . . If anybody comes to me here, Those people who came here thinking, You know, Spirituality means they can close their eyes and do, You know, Tch, Whatever that kind of stuff. I'm all making them do five people's work. Each one must do five people's work, Otherwise I'm not satisfied. And seven days of the week, Three-hundred-and-sixty-five days, We are on, On and on. Why I'm saying this is, Because this is most important in a human perspective that everything that you have should find expression. If it doesn't find expression, It'll become knots within you which will bother you. You won't even know why, Simply for no reason, Simply you feel, You know, Unfulfilled, Kind of like there is a bad weather within you, No matter what is happening. So you can call it by many names. As I already said, There are many ways of looking at it. One simple way of looking at it is, See, Human experience has a chemical basis to it. What you call as joy is one kind of chemistry, What you call as misery, Another kind of chemistry. Peace is another kind of chemistry, Love is another kind of chemistry, Agony is one kind of chemistry, Ecstasy is another kind of chemistry. So right now, We can look at it in this simple way. If you create the right kind of chemistry within yourself, You will be blissful every moment of your life. Being blissful means your body, Your mind, Your emotion and your energies are pleasant, Because pleasantness is very vital for a human being, And that's all you're looking for. See, You want your body to be pleasant. If your body is pleasant, We say, This is health. If it becomes very pleasant, We say this is pleasure. If your mind becomes pleasant, We say this is peace. If it becomes very pleasant, We say this is joy. If your emotions become pleasant, We say this is love. If it becomes very pleasant, We call this compassion. If your very life energies become pleasant, We call this blissfulness. If it becomes very pleasant, We call it ecstasy. If your surroundings become pleasant, We call this success. Well, All of you are entrepreneurs, That has been your focus to make your surroundings pleasant for yourself. But when you want to make your surroundings pleasant, There are many ingredients in the surroundings. You will have to have some mastery over many people, Many situations, Various aspects in the world. Then only surroundings will become pleasant. For this, It is a question of competence. But to make your body pleasant, To emotions pleasant, Mind pleasant and energies pleasant, It's one-hundred percent your business. To make your body, Mind, Emotion and energy pleasant, It is absolutely your business. Surroundings are a different matter, That is a question of competence. Not everybody is equally competent when it comes to the outside. But if you're willing, Everybody is equally competent when it comes to the inside. It is just that nothing has been invested in the direction. In the sense, Your entire schooling system that is there in the world today, Tell me, Is there any, Even a moment's focus as to how you should be? It's all about how is the bacteria, How is the cockroach, How is the frog, We even opened up these things and looked inside how they are working. But there is not a moment of turning inward and looking at what is. . . What makes a human being, What makes a human being tick, What makes him go down, What makes him go up. Is there any science like that in the school? So entire schooling system has been like this. From there, Everything has built up, Our businesses, Our institutions, Our nations and societies have built up on the same format on which our education systems have been built. So based on this, We have not invested anything. So there are no results. Well, The question is coming from New York. Unfortunately, New York state is going through a really bad bout of this thing, It's terrible out there. But let's say United States, If you take United States as an example, Hundred-and-fifty years ago, Ninety-three percent of the US population was illiterate. Today it's hundred percent literate, I believe. How does this happen? Somebody invested in the infrastructure of schoolrooms, Teachers, Human infrastructure, Physical infrastructure. Because of the infrastructure, Today everybody is literate. I'm asking where is the infrastructure for inner well-being? That's what we are trying to build around the world, To build infrastructure for inner well-being of the human being. That is one basic focus of Inner Engineering. Fortunately, Today, We can do it virtually. See, You're in different places, We are talking to you. Fortunately, For the first time in the history of humanity, We can sit in one place and talk to the whole world. Why I'm saying this is, If you look back on the history of this world, Many great beings have come who had solutions for the world. Well, Krishna came, He could talk only to one person. A Buddha came, He spoke to a few hundred people. Jesus came, Just twelve people and one of them freaked on him. Like this, This has been the history of this humanity. This is the first time that we can talk to the entire world sitting in one place. When there is an opportunity like this, If we do not transform human consciousness, That means we are simply not interested. So this virus has given us a break from whatever we've been doing. I think this is a great time. You're all entrepreneurs, You must also look at this, How to raise human consciousness. Whatever you need in terms of material support, Whatever, I'm willing to give you, Isha Foundation is willing to give you. You make a. . . You build an enterprise of transforming humanity, Because that is the biggest business in many ways, And that is the most vitally needed business on the planet. Sure. Thank you. I mean, And that leads to my next question. And you know, Of course, Conscious is very, Very important in philanthropy and charity, And working for the society is always great. And Thai, You know, Has been promoting this philanthropy after. . . For all successful people, And we do a lot. This question has come from Thai Comptor and Thai Rajasthan. You know, So doing charity, Doing good work, Doing work for social impact, Always makes one very happy. The inner glow, As you say, The inner strength that comes from within is very, Very strong. Can you enlighten what happens, What chemistry happens in one's self when someone does good work for other people? And also, If you'd like to talk about your charities that you're working in, How we can collaborate, As you just mentioned. Wherever an individual human being puts another human being or some other human being's well-being above our own, Suddenly that situation becomes a very powerful situation. We have the fortune of constantly living among such people. It is the greatest fortune I have that always I'm among people who are not concerned about themselves, They're concerned about what they can do for what is around them. So that is a fantastic situation. It is good, Those of you doing businesses who are engaged in variety of things, Families to raise and all this stuff, In that you take time to do this, It's a great thing. And you must know this joy. You must know the joy of operating beyond your limitations because the only thing that a human being is looking for is expansion. Please look at this. Wherever you are, Whatever you are right now, You want to be something more. If that something more happens right now, You want to be something more. If that happens right now, You want to be something more. If you look at this, You want constant expansion. So how much expansion would settle you for good? If you look at this, Even if I make you the king or queen of this planet, You will not settle. You will want the solar system. If I give you one solar system, You will want the universe. If I give you one universe, You will want the galaxies. It doesn't matter if I give you a billion galaxies, You will want something more. This is the nature of a human being because this one doesn't like boundaries. It wants to expand. If we have this longing in a very basic physical way that we want to be more than who we are, In. . . If it finds a very basic physical expression, This is called sexuality. You're trying to be something more than who you are. If it finds an emotional expression, We will say this is love. You're trying to include somebody as a part of yourself. If it finds a mental expression, People will say, This is ambition, This is conquest or maybe simply shopping. No, I. . . Maybe I shouldn't have uttered that word. People must be missing that activity so much and they may suffer because I mentioned. . . Online shopping is open, I think. In India, That is also not there. It's only essential question. Yes. So, Essentially you're trying to be more than who you are. Even your acquisition of wealth, Property, Money, What is this? This is just about expansion. So, In a way, When you look at life, Not just in terms of myself and mine, But something that's unconnected with you, You want to invest something in that life, There is a sense of expansion and that's what you're enjoying. That you must know always. This is what yoga means. Yoga means union, Not necessarily emotional or psychological, Simply the way you exist, There is a sense of union with everything around you. In this union, There is ultimate pleasure and blissfulness and peaks of ecstasy, Which most people would never know in their life. This is something every human being must experience in this life, Because we have come with the possibility. Why should we miss it? Thank you. Thank you so much. Now I'll hand it over to Vikas to ask the next questions and we would now be discussing character and the future of the society, Moving on from the present. There was one part of the question which I did not answer, If I can. . . Yeah, Yeah, Yeah. I'm sorry, You forgot to talk about your charities. Yes, We need to know about. . . Well, I never thought I'm doing any charity, I thought. . . I'm just doing what's needed. In that sense right now, You know, It is very painful to see that even in the rural India, There are so many people, Migrant labor and others who are stuck without food. It's running into thousands every day, Our volunteers are out there ensuring that, You know, We have created this thing that this part of Tamil Nadu doesn't have a single case of virus infection. Because our volunteers are there taking care of this, Supporting the police, Supporting the government officials, Serving food to all those people, No movement, Not a single case has appeared in this entire region of Tamil Nadu, Because we are on the ground. This is what needs to happen to stop this. This is one aspect. Well, There are issues in this country, What we are focusing on is education, Nourishment, Health together, And ecology. These are the three main issues in the country and in the world also in many ways. So in terms of ecology, We are largely focusing on changing the policy. Right now, We're in the process of unrolling a movement called Conscious Planet. It's been pushed by six months because of this virus, But we will be rolling it out later on. We want all of you to be a part of this. The idea behind this is just this. Right now, If we don't make the corrections, If we do not make the correction, Even now the number of people dying in the cities is way higher. Even during Spanish flu, This was true. Wherever the particulate matter was beyond 2. 5, You know, Micrometers or whatever, There, Always the deaths were higher even during the Spanish flu and the same is happening now. So the number of people who die just because of pollution causes is very, Very high and those people are also susceptible to these kind of things. Having said that, To bring down the pollution, There is. . . People are thinking electric cars, This, That, Yes, All that needs to happen. But the most important thing that needs to happen is a mass transport system, Which is super efficient, Then naturally people will go by that. There are many plans for which policy changes we have put forth to the government, They have become the official policy recommendations for all the states in India. Now we are trying to do this for the whole world. What we are looking at is just this. Ecological issues should become election issues in every country. For this to happen, We are may. . . We have a list of three top political parties in every nation, The hundred-and-eighty-seven nations which have democracies, We have top three political parties and we are approaching them. And at the same time, See the political parties will not do anything unless people really want it. So we are seeing how to touch three to 3. 5 billion people to vote for, You know, Simple things. We are making. . . Right now whatever ecological information that's out there is all like PhD stuff. Nobody understands what it is. The common man on the street has no clue what it is all about. We are making this into five things that must happen in your country. We are making the world into segments in terms of latitudes or geographical segments of equatorial region, Tropical, Subtropical, Temperate like this. And in this region, If your country is there, What should happen? What are the five things that must happen? Two or three things that should never happen in your country. We want to make sure at least three to 3. 5 billion people, Because 5. 26 billion people have franchise in this world. That means they have the power to elect a government. If three billion people understand these five things and they vote. . . They will say, Yes, We will vote for this. This means it will become an election issue. So we are seeing how to get to the three billion number. We have various plans. We will come to you sometime. Please, All of you should stand with us, Because this is a must happen. Because right now, About twenty-five percent of the world's land is untouched and pristine. It is estimated by 2050, Only ten percent will be left and populations will touch nearly ten billion. Well, That is a calamity by itself. Absolute calamity, You don't need any virus. If we become ten billion people and forests have reduced, No enough forest cover and green cover in the world, This will be a disaster. But right now, We have a phenomenal chance to change a few things. See, Of the fifty-one million square kilometers of land which is being used for agriculture in this world, Forty million. . . Forty million square kilometers of land is used only to raise animals and their food, Because of meat consumption. If meat consumption is brought down by fifty percent, People don't have to give it up. If they bring it down by fifty percent, Twenty million kilo. . . Square kilometers of land will become available. Twenty million square kilometers means you can. . . You can plant one-point-two trillion trees. One-point-two trillion trees means everything, All the carbon that you have thrown out into the atmosphere, In fifteen to twenty years' time it will fully absorb. That's what it means. This can be done and it can be a huge business by itself. Timber can be a huge business by itself. We can crop the timber, But in a. . . In a calculated way, This can be done, This can be a major business. As meat industry goes down, This can be done. This is a big enterprise by itself. You must look at that. Above all, All of you should stand with us for Conscious Planet. Thank you so much and we will help you reaching out to masses across the globe and educating people about what you said. We'll share a document with your team. Over to you Vikas to take it forward, Please. Thank you. Guruji, You know, Over the last four or five years in particular, We've seen so much disharmony, Disunity and fractures emerge in our society, Whether we look at, You know, Referendum or elections or whatever it might be. And we do, As you said, Need to come together as a society for many important causes such as the environment. But why are we still turning to those base instincts such as hate and isolation? And how can we build society which is more unified regardless of religion or opinion or background because that is so important for us? See, That's what it looks like on the surface. But essentially, This is happening because economics has become the most significant aspect of human life right now. Once economics becomes the most significant aspect, What have you got, What do I have? This is the whole calculation all the time. So, When it's all based on this, Naturally people will polarize themselves because they know there is strength in unity and brotherhood of their own. So, It may look like religion on the surface, It may looks like so many other things. But if you look at it, The underlying force is economic concerns. Now, Your Brexit you're talking about is an economic concern, It's not a racial thing or even a national thing, It is more an economic concern. So, Economy or economic well-being has become the only concern. There are no other concerns in human life. Right now, Even in London, I see people don't even discuss weather anymore. They only talk about the stock prices and what is happening, What is happening here. Even if you sit around, I'm saying, I was somewhere where about four, You know, Senior ladies were sitting and I sat with them for a small tea or something. Even they're talking about stock prices, I said, Don't you discuss weather or local gossip anymore. No, All that is gone. The only gossip is economic gossip. When this happens to any society, Naturally, We will, You know, We will make groups of our own, Because that gives us power. If we're left alone by ourselves, We may be smothered by the economic forces. So, We need to change this. In many ways, If I. . . If I say this, It looks like I'm rubbing, You know, Insult to injury. Right now, The economy has slowed down. This is a time for all of us to rethink many things about our lives, How we are living. Is this the way we as human beings should exist on this planet? Is it really. . . The way we are existing is quite unbecoming of being human. We are as violent or worse than any other animal. . . Creature, An animal functions out of its instinct. Instinct essentially means a crystallized amount of memory within itself in its evolutionary scale. And from that memory it operates. The significance of being human is, Whatever our instincts are, Whatever our genetic background and evolutionary background is, This moment you and me can function, We have a discerning mind that we can function consciously, No matter what our history says, What our genetics say, What our evolution says, Whatever it is, The background, Still we can stand above that and act consciously, Because we are the only ones who have a discerning mind which can act beyond our own instincts. If we do not exercise this, We are not really full-fledged human beings, That's what it means. Wow! And in a moment I'll hand over to Mahavir as well to give an official vote of thanks for today. But one final question if I may Guruji, Which is, You know, Right now we're all introspecting, We're all, You know, On our own or, You know, In small groups and it's causing us to almost focus on some of the negatives that we are seeing in society. But how can we make sure that we look outwards? How can we make sure that we see beauty and positivity, Even in a time of great crisis and uncertainty? The negativity is coming from. . . I think all of you are trying to practice astrology. You're planning to probably start an astrology company. So you're trying to make predictions about which you have no clue. Don't make predictions right now. Just carefully watch what's happening in the world, Every little bit that's happening, Because you're an entrepreneur, There could be a thousand opportunities in many, Many things that are happening. This may make you look. . . Make me look like, Oh, What is he talking when there's a human disaster, You're talking about enterprise. Well, Enterprise matters because the success of a nation no more depends on its military might, Or even on its political circus that it does, Essentially it depends on the success of its businesses. So it is very important that business people don't become astrologers and start making predictions and gloom and doom stuff. No, You just wait, It's okay. When. . . When we step out onto the street, Let's see what to do. We must watch carefully. But the most important, As I already said is, This is a time that you will never get again probably in your life. Till now, Since you started your enterprise, I'm sure nobody gave you an eight-week break, Isn't it? Simply impossible even to think. Even I'm. . . I'm here at the yoga center continuously for two months, Which I have not done in forty years. So I'm thoroughly enjoying my stay here and doing the best we can do. We have to completely reinvent ourselves to function in the new world, Because our programs are always ten thousand, Fifteen thousand, Twenty-five thousand people. That's not going to happen in the next twelve to twenty-four months probably. Wow! No, Thank you so much. And if I may Guruji, I'll. . . At that point I'll hand back to our global chair, Mahavir Sharma. But thank you so much for joining us today. You must do Inner Engineering. Thank you. Thank you Vikas. Guruji, You know, There is a. . . You know, All of us in our lives, Forty, Fifty years have done something or the other wrong, Or taken steps that have turned out to be wrong. There's always a sense of guilt at times of what we had done in the past. You know, Someone from Florida is just asking the fact that he moved to the US two decades ago. Suddenly he feels that he was selfish and he moved out of India. He cannot prove his loyalty, Love for India. And most NRIs or non-resident Indians or non-resident countries, People always feel that towards their country and they get. . . You know, They can't prove themselves or they can't prove it to the world that their love for both the countries is equal and is parity. How does one get rid of this guilt, Specifically this or generally this? See, Right now. . . Right now, One thing that we have in India plenty is human beings, All right? We are nearly 1. 35 billion people. For these 1. 35 billion people, We don't have the economy, The size of economy that would properly serve these human beings. Right now we are striving to build that. Economy we will build, We are confident about that. But we don't have enough land for 1. 4 billion people to live well. We don't have enough water for 1. 4 billion to live well. We don't even have a piece of sky for 1. 4 billion people to live well. So, Our thing is to produce very competent, Focused, Inspired and balanced human beings and export them to the rest of the world. If half a billion people if we export, The whole world is ours, What is the problem? Geographical boundaries should not be so restrictive, All right? Nation is just an idea. Nation is just an idea in our mind. We have love for things that we have gone through in our childhood and where. . . Where we have seen and grown up. That is perfectly fine and that's wonderful because a human being is as complex and as capable and as sophisticated simply because, As I said, Vivid sense of memory we have. We must celebrate that memory, We must remember that memory. Well, Those people who are feeling that way, They've. . . Many of them have come from small villages and now they're doing very well in United States or wherever else. Well, They can take up one-one village and take care of it. You tell me if you want to take care of any village in southern India, We will take care of it for you if you contribute. We will see all the children in that place are educated and many more people like you are produced and I'm not. . . I'm not talking about brain drain, This drain. We have enough brains and enough bodies, We can send them around the world. This is another way of conquering the world out of our love and inclusion, Not by conquest. So, They don't have to feel guilty, They just have to do well. And if they have the needed resource, They can take up something in India which will make a difference. Don't take up something else, Some fanciful romantic stuff. The only thing that you need to take up is children, Education and ecology, This is it. If we. . . Because we have people and people, If we produce very focused, Inspired and competent population, We will be a great miracle. If we fail to do that, This 1. 4 billion people will be a great disaster. So we are. . . We intend to make this into a great miracle because that can only happen by investing in people. But now we are little concerned with this virus because last twenty years, We have pulled out two-hundred-and-forty million people out of the poverty. . . Below poverty line. But now, If this lasts for twelve months or more, That two-hundred-million-plus people may go straight back below the poverty line once again. That is our concern. So the most important thing that needs to happen is nourishment, Education and ecological concerns are there. If these three things you can contribute and attend to, Please do that for India. But you don't have to feel guilty about your well-being. No, Not at all. Dr. P. R. Patel Thank you. One last question, I think I can squeeze in four, Five minutes to go and pull you into the debate of life versus livelihood. You know, US is, You know, Leaning towards livelihood and economy. Indian government is in a dilemma, Red. . . You know, Green-orange zones don't have as much of a business or economy, Red is where all the problem is. What. . . What is the right balance? Is it. . . What is the future immediately for us as entrepreneurs or the government and a. . . Is there a balance somewhere? Dr. Sivastava See, This is not about taking sides. We should not take sides at times like this. Unfortunately, People are so geared to always take this side or that side. That's not it. As I said, We do not know how it'll unfold in the next two to three months. When the Spanish flu happened, In the first wave, Immediately after World War I, When the first wave happened, Started in the month of January, It killed about six million or seven million people. People thought it's over. But it came back in August, September, And killed over thirty-five million people straight away. And it again came back next year to kill some more people, But that second wave was the biggest one. Is this virus going to behave like that or not? We do not know. We can only go by what's happened till now. In the past, It's happened in the. . . In the. . . You know, Just a little over a century, Exactly the same thing has happened. It's a second wave which really got us. Even now, Some of the doctors and scientists are saying, The second wave in US will happen in October, November, December, And that's going to be really big. Well, If that is the thing, You step out and kill two, Three million people or ten million people or whatever, I don't know how many, Unfortunately, That will not be good in terms of livelihood. Even if we look for livelihood, Coming out and protesting in thousands together, Openly defying the simple care that you need to take us. . . Take so that it doesn't spread, Talking about. . . See, Scientific language like herd immunity, This and that, Without understanding what it is, Before herd immunity comes, If we go for herd immunity, I'm telling you, We will wipe out the geriatric population completely. We will wipe out all those people who've gone through organ transplants, Cardiac patients, Diabetics, All vulnerable population, Largely we will remove them. Is that what you want to do in terms of livelihood? Yes, We definitely have to restart the economy, Time has come. More than six to eight weeks if you close down, It'll become a major problem. But how to do it must happen in a planned way, Not coming out and talking about your rights on the street. Your rights are there, But there are also responsibilities of being in a democracy, Isn't it? Because when what you do is not just about your life, It's going to take somebody else's life. When doctors are being forced to make these kind of decisions, In Italy this was done, That is, Suppose me and my mother get admitted into the hospital for the virus, They will give the ventilator to me and let my mother die. How will I live with that? That I took the ventilator and made her die. Or if me and my daughter get admitted for the same problem, They'll give it to my daughter, I will die. When people are being forced to make these kind of decisions, You're talking about your rights, You want a haircut. Come on. Just fifty years ago, You didn't want to have a haircut, All right? Now you're saying you can't live without a haircut, Barber shops you want, That is the most important thing. Alcohol you want. Please, This is a time where little more responsible and conscious action should come forth from human beings. Should economy restart? One hundred percent, There's no question about that. But how it must happen in a systematic, Disciplined way, Not in a wild way. Well, Thank you, Thank you so much for such great, Insightful answers to our questions raised from across the world. On behalf of Thai, All its members and the entire fraternity, I would like to thank you and Isha Foundation for bringing this up to us. We will collaborate and work with you closely in social impact and environmental issues soon. And thank you, Couch Bank once again, Thank you Vikas, Thank you Peter for doing a fantabulous job. Thank you, Everyone. Namaskar. Thank you very much, All of you. Thank you.

Reviews

Wow!! This is very informative and logical. Thank you.