Stop Limiting Life's Possibility

From ants and worms to software engineers and doctors, every creature on earth earns its living. Yet, Sadhguru laments, despite our vast intellect, humanity has invested all its consciousness into what could be just one small aspect of life. Rather than limiting our possibility, it is time we engineer ourselves towards realizing our full human potential.

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

So this is the nature of a human being.

Whatever you're deprived of,

You think that is the highest thing.

Whatever you don't have,

Looks like at that moment that is the highest thing.

If you have not eaten for two days,

Food will be God.

Yes or no?

No?

Yes.

If you don't understand this,

Close your mouth,

Hold your nose like this for two minutes.

Will you ask for air or God?

God comes and says,

You want me or air?

He'll say hell with you,

I want to breathe.

Because whatever at that moment you're deprived of,

That becomes… takes honor,

Enlarges itself in such a way it blocks everything out.

Or in other words,

When you're in any state of compulsiveness,

You don't see anything the way it is,

It gets exaggerated.

If your bladder is full,

One minute I'm talking about enlightenment.

Your bladder is very full.

Are you interested?

I don't want any enlightenment.

That now going to the bathroom feels like ultimate liberation.

Yes or no?

Just about anything,

When you're in a state of compulsiveness,

You don't see anything the way it is.

You will… life will get distorted to make you think that that is it at that moment.

So like this,

Human life passes from one comp… one compulsive state to another,

Never allowing yourself that little bit of space where you could see things the way they are.

If you do not even see life the way it is,

Can you handle it the way it needs to be handled?

It doesn't arise,

Isn't it?

If you don't see things the way they are,

You can never handle it the way it needs to be handled.

Because of this,

In many ways individual human lives and whole societies have become distorted humanity.

When I say distorted,

It's normal,

I mean normal.

I was talking to a… like fourteen,

Fifteen year old kids in a school and I was… I couldn't believe that.

I was talking to about eleven,

Twelve of them,

Young boys and girls.

When something came up and I was just asking them what are they going to do next because they were in their tenth standard or something.

They are only talking about finding a job and earning a living.

I couldn't believe this because my whole life I never thought of earning a living.

My dear father used to break his head,

This boy has no fear in his heart,

What will happen to him,

What will happen to him?

I said not having fear is a problem.

I thought fear is a problem.

I never thought not having fear is a problem.

So according to the dictates of the divine,

I was supposed to become a doctor because my father is a doctor.

At the age of ten I told him,

No,

That's one thing I'm not going to be,

I'm not going to be a doctor.

But every day somebody is trying to work on me,

You must become a doctor,

You must become a doctor.

You know,

Indian family,

You must become a doctor,

If you cannot… Of course now they've all shifted to software.

I was… I was in Chicago just a… you know,

Eight days… just two days ago I came to India,

So one week ago,

Eight days ago I was in Chicago and an Indian person came and I asked,

Okay,

What are you doing?

What else Sadhguru?

That means he's a software engineer.

There was a time if you said what else,

You were a doctor.

Now if you say what else,

It means you're a software engineer.

It is not because they are phenomenally interested in human physiology,

They became doctors.

Not because they are… have an electronic,

This thing they became a software engineer,

Just to earn a living.

Is it not important?

I'm not saying it's not important,

All I'm saying is even an ant which is one millionth of your brain is capable of earning a living,

Which you problem with such a big brain.

Why I'm saying this is this idea,

This horribly limiting idea has been imposed into our youths that you must earn a living and that's the biggest thing.

But this big brain,

Earning a living is actually a problem on this planet.

Do you… I know everybody has been conditioned to believe that.

It is not so,

I'm telling you.

It is not so.

Earning a living is a petty thing for human consciousness but unfortunately whole humanity is investing all its energies and intelligence in just earning a living.

If this one thing does not change in the world,

That… I'm not saying one should not,

All I'm saying is it need not occupy the entirety of human consciousness to earn a living.

If you put one little finger to work,

It'll earn a living.

It's capable,

This is capable of that.

All human genius has been smothered to death simply because everybody is thinking how to earn a living,

How to earn a living,

You know.

The moment they can earn a living,

They will sit down and become fat.

You must be saying,

What can I do with this life,

Isn't it?

Yes?

You must be saying,

What is the greatest thing I can do with this life?

Because one day you'll fall dead,

Do you know?

Do you know you'll fall dead one day?

So before you die,

Whatever is the peak possibility for this life should happen,

Isn't it?

I earned my living,

I earned my living.

This is a big pride.

Why don't you see every insect,

Every worm,

Every bird,

Every animal,

Every creature on this planet is earning a living.

What is such a… What is such… What is there to be so proud of about I earned my own living?

Everybody is earning their own living,

Isn't it?

Only human beings are making a big issue out of it.

Too big a issue.

When I look at it,

How human intelligence has been sacrificed at the altar of earning a living is unbelievable.

How many things human beings could have done,

How many incredible things they could have done but instead of that they're earning a living.

So it's very,

Very important.

I'm… I'm just thinking we should start a wave,

Particularly in schools and colleges that earning a living is not… is a damn little thing.

It is not the prime of your life.

With one little finger you can earn a living with this big brain.

When a ant can earn its living,

This big brain,

Should it struggle to earn a living?

That has become a problem because you want to be like somebody else,

Isn't it?

You want to be like somebody else,

That ends life's show and once you're into this checker nothing else is possible,

It just keeps you going and going and going endlessly.

Now this possibility of this simple thing called yoga is not about twisting your body,

It's not about getting fit,

It's not about getting healthy.

This… All these things nature will do for you if only if you live in tune with it.

This is about understanding the geometry of the cosmos through the geometry of your own system.

I'm calling this a geometry because cosmos is a geometry,

Isn't it?

Planet Earth is going around the sun.

What is it?

A diesel powered?

You think a big diesel engine is pushing it?

If it was,

The roar of that engine would have killed us.

Just the perfection of geometry,

It just keeps going and going and going,

Isn't it?

You've seen those perpetual machines?

Have you seen those little ones?

If you just do it like this,

For years on end it's going.

So this is just that,

It's a perfection of geometry which keeps it going and going and going.

The whole universe is geometrically perfect,

That's why it stays there,

Otherwise it wouldn't.

And if you learn to hold your body in a certain way,

If the geometry of your body is in alignment with the geometry of the rest of the creation,

Suddenly you will find there is a rapport,

A rapport which will allow you,

You can download the whole cosmos into this one.

This is not a tiny little… if you simply like this,

If you live,

You're just a piece of flesh and bone.

If you just get it right,

Suddenly this is something else.

Only these days you don't have this experience anymore because you've got all Tata Sky,

Dishnet and all that stuff.

But if suppose you had a television in your home in 80s when first the Dhuradarshan came,

You are watching your favorite cricket match,

Suddenly your television was boop,

Boop,

Boop.

Then you climb up the terrace and there is an aluminum contraption.

If you do like this,

Nothing will come.

If you do like this,

Nothing will come.

You just get it to the right place.

Ah,

The world pours into your sitting room.

This is just like that.

If you learn to just hold it right,

The whole cosmos will pour into you.

So this is engineering yourself.

Does not mean engineering yourself to breathe little better,

To be little more healthy.

No.

This is about realizing the full potential of what it means to be human.

Reviews

Balanced + Sane + Sensible = Wise! www.gratefulness.org, ahimsa www.compassioncourse.org

So enlightening. I want more information on what he thinks we should do to tune ourselves.

Thank you for reminding me, I am an antenna to the universe beyond my compulsions and limiting beliefs. 🙏🕉

Thanks for this, wonderful recording so much to take from this.

So true, breathe into this one and live a little, laugh a little loved it! 🙏🤗

Thank you Sad Guru for the courage to follow your calling with compassion, for sharing the wisdom earned in the way you live your one life and for not becoming a doctor 😂

Great reminder of how where our focus lies or where we channel our energy is important.

This was wonderful! I’ve thought for a long time that there’s more to this life than just earning a living, so it was really nice to hear you speak about it as well. Thank you!

Absolutely amazing!! We definitely need this lecture in all schools!

Namaste 🙏🏻 if only all of us could hear this message- it has been spoken many times in many ways but we have stopped listening.

Realising the full potential of what it means to be human
Beautiful stated.
Namaste 🙏🏽
June B

Thank you for the enlightment in these difficult times! 🙏

The geometry of the cosmos is perfect, Namaste 🙏🏼

His talks always leave me smiling ... laughing at myself & with Life, lifted and lighter. 🙏

Thank you...tuning myself with the universe and trusting I will find my creative path. Letting go!

Wise words once more. Would love to listen to this guy in person. 😊

Thank you, just the reminder I needed 🙏

On the second listen I believe I actually HEARD the meaning. All kinds of lights went on. Thank you.

So simple how he explains that a job is not purpose or even necessary.

Enlightening as always ✨💕