Jealousy Motivates Me – Is That Wrong?

Jealousy has worked so well for me, confesses a student at SRCC, Delhi. She asks Sadhguru if it there’s anything wrong in being motivated by jealousy. #UnplugWithSadhguru

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Yogi, mystic and visionary, Sadhguru is a spiritual master with a difference. 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

Questioner 1 – Sadhguru,

Jealousy is always considered as a really cynical emotion,

But to be honest for me it has worked so well.

Sadhguru – What did you get to do?

Questioner 1 – It motivates me.

So every time my friend learns something new,

I just get this innate urge to perform better and it's probably why I've landed up in my dream college.

So do you think the jealousy is actually a negative emotion or does it motivate you to do better?

See,

These days fortunately it's gone.

When we were growing up,

Especially Diwali is coming,

When Diwali comes,

In small terms,

One of the fun that people have is they will make a can full of what to say,

The firecrackers and tie it to a donkey's tail.

When it goes dum dum dum,

Poor donkey runs all over the place faster than a horse.

You think that's the way to motivate life?

There are better and more intelligent ways of doing things.

Well,

When you feel like your tail is burning,

You may run.

People always use this thing,

If a dog is chasing you,

You will run really fastest.

But Mr.

Bolt,

You know Mr.

Bolt?

He did not run because his tail is on fire.

He runs because he prepared his legs and lungs in such a way,

Whichever way he runs,

He is faster than everybody.

Hello?

Isn't that the way to run?

You want to run because a dog is chasing you,

You want to run because your tail is on fire,

Is that the way you want to run?

No,

That's not a pleasant way to run.

See,

One thing is important that you run fast.

Another thing is that your experience of running is fantastic.

Isn't that important?

Hello?

Well,

You got into your dream college,

But it could be hell,

Three years,

Three years of hell,

Who knows?

Is it not important that these three years are a fantastic experience for you?

No?

Not important?

Running is not the only important thing.

How you experience it,

What comes out of it tomorrow?

Suppose we ran because our tail is on fire,

Now we understand,

The only way to make people run is to set their tails on fire.

How much damage we will cause to everybody?

And I have seen these donkeys running faster than a racehorse because they're terrified.

That's not the way to run.

Please don't do that to yourself,

Not anymore,

Okay?

Reviews

An excellent expansion on the REALity of the fact that, “what we focus on expands”! www.gratefulness.org, ahimsa

Bars!

This dude is epic

Loved the analogy! Applicable to any situation related to jealousy

Good answer!
One can choose a better motivator.

Wonderful message 😍😘

Just love the humour in sadhgurus talks and lessons! Beautifully inspiring!!🤗❣️🙏Namaste

Such a wise insight! It did literally bring tears to my eyes as for much of my life I have been motivated by competition and sometimes envy. I will remember your words. Thankyou.

Very well inspirational and motivational.

I’m a fan of Sadhguru but he answers this question with ease and good insight.

Brilliant answered !

This guy has some GOOD answers! Thx, Sadhguru. 🙏🏽

I have been dealing with issues with jealousy for years, this short talk answers a lot of questions.

I was curious of how he was going to respond to her question. And I love his response. Such wisdom. And his answer applies to more than the subject of jealousy. One can also apply it to procrastination (a way of living in which the stress of doing something at the last minute outweighs the pleasure of what is accomplished). I’ve heard him emphasize in other lectures that how we live is more important than what we do. I agree and do my best to remind myself of that each day. Thank you, Sadhguru. 🙏

Great! Jealousy makes you run faster but your experiences may be pure hell. Going forward in life comes within where you make best of those experiences.

Very insightful.
Thank you.