Knowing Yourself, Inside and Out

Responding to a question on turning inward, Sadhguru asks, are we even sure what is inside and what is outside of ourselves? The first step in understanding, he explains, is to leave aside things we don’t know and work towards clarity of perception.

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

I have been seeing your videos in YouTube,

This is the first time that I'm seeing you live,

So I have a basic question which will help everyone here.

Everyone talks about you know,

Knowing ourselves and the first step is going inside and then the way to go inside through meditation.

I mean I… I… Please don't… I never said such things,

I don't know which everyone said those things.

Okay,

So then how do we go inside?

Inside what?

You're already inside the hall.

Inside what?

Inside ourselves.

Oh!

Okay,

If that is the truth of the first step of knowing answers for all the questions,

If going inside is the answer then how do we do that?

First of all you must understand what is inside,

Okay,

And what is outside.

If you do not understand what is inside and outside then you will go to all the wrong places.

Now what is inside?

Your body accumulated over a period of time,

Yes or no?

Hello?

Ma?

What you accumulate can be yours,

Cannot be you.

Is that much clear?

Whatever it may be,

What you accumulate can be yours,

Cannot be you.

So this body is an accumulation.

What you call as my mind,

The whole content of the mind is accumulated depending upon what you're exposed to in your life.

So your body is a heap of food,

Small or big.

Your mind is a heap of impressions,

Again small or big.

Between these two heaps,

Where the hell are you?

So inside,

Outside,

Leave these words because when it comes to language there is only that much leeway.

So within that maybe different people are trying to use it in different ways.

We don't know in what context they used.

You put everybody into one bundle and say,

They all of you said this,

I don't know who these all people are.

Different people employed different methods around them,

Looking at the people around them,

What was best suitable for the people around them,

Accordingly they would have worked most probably.

If they're genuine,

They would have worked with the people around them,

Not with concepts from somewhere.

What looking at an individual person,

You will do something,

What works for that person.

What you do with this person may not work for another person,

You will have to do something else with that person.

But you're talking about a generic inward outward.

So first determine what is inward outward.

Everything is outward right now.

The world is outside,

Body is also external material,

All the material in the mind also is external.

So what is this inward you're talking about?

Then you will immediately say,

Atma,

Parmatma,

Soul,

This one.

Now you're going into belief system.

You don't know.

You know you have a body,

Yes?

Hello?

Please check your neighbors.

You know you have a body,

You believe you have a mind,

But to some extent you know.

But rest is belief.

Yes or no?

I am not questioning whether it's true or false,

Let's not go there at all.

But it's belief,

It's not yet in your experience.

If you talk about something which is not yet in your experience,

To put it bluntly,

You're just a bloody liar.

That's what it means.

But because lies are holy,

Lies are written in scriptures,

Lies are repeated by all kinds of people who are dressed in different ways which are supposed to be holy though ridiculous.

Because of this,

You're not supposed to question these words.

Anywhere you go,

First thing is people say,

Sadhguru,

What about the soul?

You ask them,

Which soul,

Right or left?

So let's not talk about something that is not in your experience.

Right now your body is in your experience to some extent,

Your mind is in your experience to some extent,

Rest you don't know.

But we can infer,

If I have to accumulate this much body,

If I have to accumulate this much mind,

Something more fundamental must be there.

Yes?

Something more fundamental must be there.

We don't know what the hell it is.

For now we will call it you.

How you will go into yourself,

I'm asking.

You can go into this hall,

You can go out of this hall.

How will you go into yourself,

I'm asking.

Saying,

Let's leave this,

This is not the way.

You do this way.

What is not you,

All those things you keep it aside.

Before today,

If you… before you go to bed,

Everything that's not you,

Keep it aside.

They may be precious to you.

You think about it,

Your house,

Is it you?

Oh,

My house.

All right,

You have lots of passion about it,

But all right,

Keep it aside.

Your husband,

Is it you?

No,

That's easy,

He's not me.

My children are… is the… are they me?

Oh,

Little difficulty,

But no.

They're not me.

They're beginning to tell you,

If they're twelve,

They've already told you.

So the clothes that you wear is that you?

No.

The body that you wear is that you?

No.

All these thoughts and emotion,

Is this you?

No.

Everything that's not you,

Keep it in one heap,

Not physically,

Just do this mentally.

Keep everything aside.

Let me see.

Every day you practice this,

One day when you successfully keep everything aside that you are not,

What you are will be there.

We have too many ideas about things that we have not seen.

It's a big problem.

Shankaran Pillai went to Britannia… Can I?

Shankaran Pillai went to Britannia industries to find a job,

To find a job.

So they were looking for a really smart,

Forcing sales manager.

So they asked him one question,

Which is further,

Mumbai or moon?

Shankaran Pillai thought.

He said Mumbai.

He said,

What,

Mumbai is further than the moon?

He said,

Yes.

How?

Well,

I can see the moon,

I can't see Mumbai.

So what I'm saying is,

If you go by your present perception,

You'll get all the wrong conclusions.

So don't be in a rush to make conclusions.

Let's pay little more attention.

You are a worthwhile life which deserves some attention,

Isn't it?

Don't seek other people's attention.

Your own attention,

Doesn't this life deserve attention?

Pay attention to this.

Enough attention,

Everything will be clear.

Everything about you,

You're asking me,

If I tell you what do you have,

You have some more words.

Some more words you have,

That will not get you anywhere near the truth.

One more word or ten more words doesn't get you any closer to reality.

Just you'll have more things to say to somebody else.

This kind of hearsay is spreading in the world.

Everybody knows where God is,

Who his wife is,

How many children he has,

When is his birthday,

His address.

In every bhajan people are singing his address,

Where he is and how to get him,

But they don't know a damn thing about themselves.

This kind of,

What to say,

A very knowledgeable ignorance is dangerous,

You know?

If you do not know,

It's not a problem.

If I say I do not know,

The possibility of knowing is always there,

Isn't it?

If I do not know and I think I know,

Then I've destroyed all possibilities.

So we have arrived at many things,

We know… In every culture they know what is the nature of God,

Where he resides,

How the ambiance is there and the works,

You know?

Everybody knows the geography of the heaven,

Isn't it,

Don't you?

But you don't know a damn thing about yourself.

It's time,

It's time we paid attention because everything you know,

You know it only the way it's projected in the firmament of your mind.

You don't know anything any other way,

Yes or no?

So what you need to fix is,

You are seeing everything in a mirror of your mind and the mirror is wonky,

First fix it.

First thing is to make it stable,

Flat,

Proper plane mirror so that you see everything the way it is.

Does a plane mirror show you everything the way it is?

Everything reverse,

You know?

Then you will have to flip it,

That will take much more skill.

Most people can't flip a dosa.

Now to flip the whole universe,

The whole life that is reflecting in your mind,

To flip it over without shattering it into pieces will take much more.

But the first thing is to level out the mirror so that it shows you everything the way it is,

Not some other way.

Right now everything is seen depending upon how you are identified with something.

Every identity has distorted the mirror of your mind and it shows you things in completely different way than the way it is.

First thing is stop talking about things that you do not know.

No soul,

No atman,

No parmatman,

No god,

No divine,

No heaven.

Talk about something that you know and then the longing to take the next step will become strong.

Otherwise,

When you know the geography of the heaven,

What is the need to pay attention to anything?

That is the first thing.

Reviews

Just watch this moment. ❤️🙏

I know that my awareness (A), body, breath (B), emotions, mind and thoughtS (T) simply reside amongst my employees.

I know that I am JOY, life, light, love, patience, peace and simplicity more often than not.

I know that I am making this journey experiencing unity, the practice of inclusivity by specifically employing the ABT’s at least twice a day in the form of Isha Kriya Yoga, as Sadhguru, so JOYfully and capably guides us to embrace.

With patience, JOYful presence and perseverance, I graced with more opportunities to be of maximum service, to relax, free from struggle and suffering, to take it easy, JOYfully. In gratitude, ahimsa

Baringly truthful

Excellent. Yes! Stop talking about what we don't know!! Thanks

Always so enlightening so much wisdom. Thank you

Such beautiful WISDOM❣️
🙏🏻💕

Will be listening to this again.

Excellent and thought-provoking discussion.

Thank you for this insight.

I never know what to expect when I listen to this mans words. I am always pleasantly surprised. I always smile at something he says, I always laugh at his jokes. I always end up feeling quite mind-blown.

I am smiling..🙏

I like you Sadguru!👌

absolutely brilliant and full of earth. thank you! yes!

Eye opening. Thank you.

This guy, ...this guy is so funny and so incredibly wise!
He makes life sound very easy😊

Always wonderful! Thank you.

So excellent 🙏🏻❤️

Clear, helpful, and humorous...what a great combination! Thank you.