The Power Of Your Gut - With Sadhguru In Challenging Times

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

Sadhguru chants Yoga-Shwara Kaala Kaala Yoga-Shwara Kaala Kaala Namaskaram! Namaskaram to everyone, Wherever you are. Hmm. . . Well, I think all of you keeping current with the news about this virus situation in the world. United States has reached nearly 140, 000 deaths. Brazil is about half of that. India has touched 23, 000 deaths. Russia is about half of that. Well, Considering the density of population in India, Per million the number of cases and deaths is phenomenally low. And of the positive cases, The recovery rate is over seventy-nine percent, Which is probably the highest. But the surge in the number of cases is of great concern because I think India did a fantastic job about lockdowns and social distancing in the first two-and-a-half, Three months. But now, You can see the economic endurance of the society and the nation, The psychological endurance of the people, Psychological and emotional endurance, And also the social endurance of how long to hold on like this. Particularly when there are no clear-cut answers for any of the questions that people ask, It's become a challenge to continue to maintain discipline, To continue to just stay cooped up as right now that is the only solution or that's the only preventive step that is being talked about. Well, The idea of vaccine is being kicked around, But that is not going to be the way forward. The important thing is, I know much is being done in that direction, But once we have come up with an effective treatment protocol, Then people could go about their business with little more ease, Okay if I get it there is a treatment. Right now, Too many people are succumbing to the virus. There is no particular treatment protocol and too many people who go to the hospital are not coming back. So, It's a challenge for this generation like never before. Every one of us, Irrespective of what is the nature of our activities, Everybody has been seriously impacted by this. At a time like this, There is another whole situation growing, Which is apart from the virus pandemic, There is a mental illness pandemic just rising. The number of people who are making distress calls has gone up a thousand percent, That's what they're telling me in United States and I'm sure it's the same everywhere. So people not being able to cope with this psychologically and emotionally cracking up under the uncertainties of their economic future, Uncertainties about their professional life and many of them unable to put bread on the table. The problems are mounting and becoming more severe by the day across the world. Well, This mental pandemic is one thing we do not. . . Mental illness pandemic is one thing that we do not need, Because this viral pandemic is bad enough. The economic downturn is bad enough and the struggles of people to make a living is painful. When all this is there, We do not need a mental illness pandemic. But unfortunately, That is also looming as an imminent possibility. So what is it that one can do? Yesterday I was in conversation with a few experts in this mental illness. Hmm, You know, Doctors who are experts in this field, And all of them in one voice saying that it's going up like never before. At the same time, There was a doctor who was sharing that in the southern part of the country where she works, Particularly with children and teenagers, She said this is the first time young people who in their teens coming up and asking not for a prescription of medicine tablets or something, They're asking, What kind of yogic practice can I do so that I don't fall into this? Well, In a way the world is waking up to understand that if we want to be well, There is a certain amount of investment we have to do upon this one. Physical well-being, Psychological well-being, Emotional well-being. This life being well, Needs a certain attention otherwise it's just not going to happen by itself. Well, Naturally certain things have come to you. But how naturally are you living? That's a big question. There are many aspects to this. Well, Teaching practices, Simple practices to boost the immune system, To bring emotional balance and psychological stability. These practices are out there. There is substantial scientific and medical data to show they are one-hundred percent legitimate. They are not just claims. Today there are biomarkers which clearly, Clearly indicate that many of the yogic practices that we have been trying to teach people in the last nearly forty years. And for ages, People have been transmitting these things. It is not a fad. It is not the domain of the weird and the freakish who want to stand on their head or twist and turn themselves like leftover noodles. It is a proper science as to how to manage this system, How to maintain chemical balance within you, So that your physiological and psychological well-being is taken care of, How to keep an effervescence of energy within the system, So that you are not a depleting life all the time. We all will die, But it need not be today. I had written a poem, I think we didn't bring it. My day? My day? No. Anyway, So one important aspect which can be immediately taken care of is, The neurological system that we have, The way it is made, It is spread across the body. But there's one big knot up here. I'm calling it a knot because most people experience it as a knot, They're not able to figure out. I always admired when I was growing up, My sisters and my mother, Later on many other ladies that I've seen, You know, Like thread, You know, The sewing thread and other things. Well, When you try to do certain work, It gets all knotted up. And I always found that these girls, My sisters would always be able to unknot it so easily. I would tear them, Tear it apart, But it won't unknot itself. And I generally found this was a problem with the male of the species, That unknoting something delicately. So I many times paid attention to this and well, One thing is they have more nails, Maybe that is one advantage. But another thing is, I think generally, At least in the Indian society, Or I think everywhere in the world, Maybe things are changing now. The very nature of life was such that women always had to pay attention to little, Little detail of life. Otherwise, The feminine won't flourish. So they paid attention to these little details, Because of that they could unknot things. But I'm not saying they are great about unknoting the knot of their mind. No, But usually, They don't knot up in their head. Their chemistry largely sloshes somewhere here. So chemical slosh happens and out of that, Emotions spill. As long as it doesn't fall on you, They're wonderful. So what is this thing about the neurological system that whether you're a man or a woman you experience it, That when certain things happen, Something seems to be happening here. Well, This is something which is very well addressed in the yogic sciences. But I was surprised to know that now the medical science is recognizing this aspect in a big way. There is. . . There is a gut brain, There is a brain in your stomach. Nearly 100, 000 neurons are invested from oesophagus down to the colon along the alimentary canal. There is a brain. There is an intelligence functioning. Fortunately, It does not generate thought, Otherwise you would be in trouble. But there is an intelligence. There's a neurological system invested in that direction. And this intelligence is not entirely ours, In the sense, There are probably billions, If not trillions, I don't know the numbers, Of bacteria and viruses and other microbial substance. Some of them are full fledged life, Some of them are half-lives, Some of them aspiring to be life, But all of them playing a role. And they have a significant influence on how you think and feel. It's not just this new virus that's come, Which is making you think in a specific way. There's a whole lot of microorganisms, Particularly in your stomach region, Who are able to influence even your vagus vein. A vagus vein means generally it is. . . In the yogic sense, We are talking about this as a sacred vein. But the medical science calls it a vagabond, Because it is all over the place. And for a long time they did not realize what is its purpose. So if somebody goes all around without any perceived sense of purpose, Then we say he is a vagabond. So in that sense, They said it's a vagabond or a vagus vein. In yoga, This vein is seen as a sacred part of your body. Because if you have a certain pleasant influence upon the vagus, It determines how your experience is, Your mood. I don't like to use this word, But this is the term. Your mood modulations are managed. Your neuroplasticity or your ability to shift and change according to situations, Or at different times of your life according to the requirement of your life, Is enormously enhanced if your vagus is well influenced. Now there is evidence to show that more than you, The microbes can influence the functioning of the vagus vein. That means the microbes in your stomach can decide whether you're happier or unhappy. So welcome to the world of virus, Because microorganisms have played such a significant role in who we are, Both in terms of our physiological evolution over these millions of years, And who you are as a person right now. So now especially when your psychological endurance is going down, Because three, Nearly four months of inactivity, Uncertainty of what is going to be tomorrow or what is going to be the next year, Not knowing what is 2021, What to plan, What to do, Whether my business will be there or not, My job will be there or not, Or the bigger question whether I will be there or not. With all these uncertainties, Maintaining a pleasant way of existence becomes a challenge. So suddenly you're not going to become absolutely like that, Enlightened and fine. No matter what, If I have to die tomorrow, Still I'm fine. Well, That is not the status of most human minds. So what is it that one can do? What is the small things that everybody can do? The important thing is to keep the gut in a complex condition. That means the microbial condition must be a real cocktail of life within you. That means one thing is you should not be drinking any of the popular disinfectants, Because you should not disinfect your body. Hence, Okay. That is because you may touch something where there is this particular virus. First of all, Our attitude towards this virus also needs to change. We must understand viruses are not our enemies. This virus was living well, We don't know for how many million years on this planet. It had its customers, Pangolins and bats and whatever. Well, We can explain it in many ways, We can propound various conspiracies. But one important thing is, I'm not saying. . . This is. . . I'm talking about the social nature of the virus, Not the scientific aspect of it. See, Suppose, Let's say you're living on an island and your island starts shrinking in size. Then you naturally want to find another island or another place if you find mainland, That's fantastic. Naturally we look. For example, Here we're in United States right now. Well, Three hundred years ago, Nobody knew where this land was. People out there in UK and Europe felt congested. They needed a new land. Why? Many people there could not thrive. The social conditions were oppressive and only for a small segment of people could thrive in those lands. The rest were oppressed. They wanted to find a new land. Well, They thought the best land to go to because they had heard so much about India, They thought the best place to go was India. And they were going all over, Many of them went to the bottom of the ocean. Well, People say Vasco da Gama discovered India. No, No, We were there before the guy came. And Columbus, A bad mariner, Obviously, He ended up on the wrong side of the world. Well, After two hundred and fifty, Three hundred years, That becomes the right thing, Because you found a new land. So I'm saying any life, Whether human, Animal, Insect, Bird or microbial, In our longing to survive and thrive, If we find a place is too congested, Not enough for us to exist, Then we will try to find new habitat, Which is natural. So it is a fact that in the last seventy years, The vertebrate po. . . In the last fifty years, The vertebrate population on the planet has come down by seventy percent. Yes, I'm getting the numbers right for you. In fifty years' time, The vertebrate population on the planet has come down by seventy percent. Well, And all the insects and other smaller life, One in five of the species are endangered. So obviously, Much smaller life, Like viruses, Bacteria and other microbial life, Are all desperately looking for a new America. America was not referred to as America at one time, People used to call it a new world, Because it's a new habitat. So they're also looking for a new world, Not just one virus, Many probably. But all of them may not be competent to make the journey. One of them managed. . . We don't know, Some people have all kinds of theories as to how they manage this. Nobody is certain. Nothing that is being said about this virus is being said with any certainty. After nearly four, Five months, We still are in the same square one. We still do not know much about it. We are going on saying new things about it, But we do not know what to do about it. What it does in our body also we are not sure. Initially we thought it's just a respiratory infection. Now we know it has neurological complications, It has, You know, Pulmonary complications, It has various levels of impacts on people, Not only in terms of fatality, Also in terms of damage to the body is happening at all levels. So we still don't know a thing about it actually. We have lot of bits and pieces. But there's no one comprehensive picture of this is the nature of this virus, And this is what we can do about it. There is no such clarity anywhere. So now, The only thing that's left to us as after talking a lot about vaccines and about this and that, Slowly all the scientific community coming back to the only solution is social distancing and strengthening of the immune system. When we say strengthening of the immune system, We must understand there are more microbial life, Microorganisms in this body, Than the human cells that you have. I'm saying you are a composite of so many microorganisms that you have not seen or met, But you are more of that than what has come to you from your parentage. The genetics of these microbes are determining how resilient a life you are. Not only that, Now as I said they're influencing the vaguest vein means how happy you are is also decided by the microbes, How's that? Maybe one day, More research will say it is the microbes which decide whether you can meditate or not. I would say that right now if the microbes are working against you, You cannot meditate because your stomach will give you works. If you want to meditate, First thing is the body should be at ease. You must know how to bring it to ease. If there is no ease, Then forget about meditation, No such thing will ever come in our lives. So managing the gut brain, I'm saying those of you given up on this one, At least this one if you manage, You can pass through these difficult times with a certain sense of ease. If you've given up hope on managing this, This, Just managing with the right kind of foods and stuff, It is important for the gut brain, For what happens in your gut. Now, I'm not using medical parlance anymore. The simple understandings that we have by living here on this planet for thousands of years, Not by opening up a rat's gut. I'm saying this understanding is not from the lab, But from life is. Well, This may be have become almost impossible in Western societies. I don't know how to walk here in the garden or in the forest and pick up some greens which we can cook today. There's no such possibility. Everybody has been completely trained to believe everything other than what you buy in a store is poison. Other than what you buy in a superstore is naturally poison. The whole world is poison, Except what is sold in the marketplace. This madness, For this we are paying a huge price. Fortunately in India still you can walk in your backyard, Pick up something, A few green leaves and cook it and eat it without thinking it's poison. Well, There are reasons for this. I'm not saying it's completely baseless, But at the same time, It is overly exaggerated. If everything in nature is poison, Where did stuff come to the superstore? I don't know. Are they importing it from Mars or somewhere else? I do not know, Because lot of things look like they don't have a earthly origin. When I see a square tomato, I know it doesn't have a earthly origin. It must be Martian. So it's very important that we maintain all these creatures which are living within us. The cousins of the present microbe who've been with you, They've just visiting their relatives. If you keep these guys very strong and resilient, If you. . . You know, If you have enough of bacteria, Virus, Fungi, Archaea reside in the gut, They say there are over 1000 species of them. Over 20 million genes they have, These genomes have packed enough genomic punch that it can change the way you are in terms of your health, Your mental status, Your emotional balance, All this. This is why a certain level of significance about what to eat, How to eat, There is so much in the yogic sciences about how to eat and what to eat. Well, All of it is. . . May sound alarming today for many people who are cultivated in this, That whole creation is poison except what comes from the marketplace. It's really a wonderful level of marketing that such a thing has been impressed upon people in the last fifty years. Before that everybody was plucking things off the nature and eating. But now, You know, I think I was in. . . Somewhere in Ohio a few years ago, And I saw a tree full of pear and it was just on the street side. I plucked a pear, Wiped it and bit into it. A few people who are around me, They went into a shock, Said, Sadhguru, You're eating that, You cannot eat that. I said, Why? You cannot eat a fruit like that. You have to buy it from the market. Because there could be anything, There is mercury oxides being poisoned, Rivers are full of poison, Lakes are full of poison. I said your head is full of poison. This is the problem with you. Your head is full of poison. Now, This poison in the head, At least the gut brain, The poison in your gut brain must be removed. There must be a more complex activity happening in the stomach. Well, It is difficult to make any recommendations, You must figure it yourself, Because everything is both right and wrong today. What was perfectly fine some time ago, Because we don't know where from where you will pluck what you pluck. At least you can go by this. If the squirrels are eating it, They're also mammals. They look quite smart, Have you looked at their face? If they're eating it, I think you can eat it. But I'm allergic to this, I'm allergic to that, I'm allergic to pure air, I'm allergic to sunlight, I'm allergic to rain. This is happening genuinely. It is happening to an extent where allergies are no more small disturbances in the body. It is killing. I knew people have nut allergy. Even I used to have nut allergy. I mean, Before I turned spiritual and started teaching, I used to have nut allergy also, All the nuts, I kept away from them. But then when I started teaching, I saw there is no other way. So I developed a certain love for the nuts. So leaving that aside, I know in India we know those, We call this pitta, Where certain nuts which have a very strong sense of protein in it, Can cause certain rashes and things in you. We have a simple solution for this. We soak it in water for four, Five hours and then eat it. It gets neutralized. As simple as that. Or because nuts are seeds also, If you soak them in water, The moment it touches water, Nut has a brain of its own. You know, Even nuts have brains. It begins to think it must sprout, That it thinks it's found a habitat for it to sprout, Because that's what it's been waiting for. So when it wants to sprout, Once it's in the earth, It knows there are many others who want to eat him up – insects, Worms, Others. So there is a certain level of poisonous substance. In different nuts it's different, Some of the nuts have mild aspects of cyanide in them, That moves to the surface beneath its skin. So we figured this out and we said soak the nut for five, Six hours, Peel the outer skin, That poison goes away, Then you eat it, Then you will not get any of these rashes and things like that. This is the level of allergy that I was exposed to. But once I was traveling by the Delta Airlines in United States, And they announced that today we are not serving a pedants, Because there is one person in the plane who is allergic. First of all, You know, I used to have problems, What is a peanut, Because. . . Because it comes from the ground, It's not a nut, It is a legume, But we call it a nut because it has a shell. It comes from the ground, So we always called it ground nut. That's the only thing that comes from the ground in that type of shell. Because it comes from the ground, It's a ground nut. When. . . When I came here, People started saying peanut, Peanut, I always used to wonder how do they do it? We pick it from the ground, How do you get a peanut? Anyway, That's been sorted out now. So somebody, One person has an allergy in the airplane and you cannot open your ground nut packet and he may die. Then I spoke to a few doctors and they said, Is it true really, Are we exaggerating? They said, No, No, No, Sadhguru, It is true in a controlled atmosphere. If you open this ground nut packet, That person will die. Whoa! So, I also had allergy for nuts, I told you, But not this kind of allergy, That it can kill you and so many people have died. Now people have allergy for milk, For allergy for rain, Allergy for sunlight, Just about everything that sustains your life. Well, We must understand, There may be many reasons, But in my understanding, In my perception of things, One reason is, I think we are not keeping all these life that is existing within us and supporting our life all the time, Making us who we are, We are not keeping them happy. The microbial life within us, For some reason is not happy, Either because of excessive processed food or living constantly in unnatural conditions, Air conditioning all the time, Living in cities where highly polluted air. And above all, Everything sanitized, Super sanitized, Your home is like a hospital, It's like a operation theater, It is sanitized all the time. Oh, Everybody. . . Okay, Now virus time you do this, But all the time wash it with soap, Wash it with soap. See, Bacteria, Virus, Microbes are a part of us. There are more of them than us in this body. What you call as myself, It is very much less than the number of microbial life that exists within us. Keeping them happy is very important. So just taking a leaf of natural conditions, Not in a city garden, Maybe it's all sprayed with insecticide, But in natural condition and putting it in your mouth is not going to kill you. Because this life and that life is connected. Above all, Being disconnected from earth, Being disconnected from the soil, From which we have come and the soil to which we will inevitably go, Being disconnected, I think the microbial life, This thousand and odd species of microbes are not happy. Once they are not happy, If they freak a little bit, Your health freaks, Your psychological balance freaks, Your emotional balance freaks, All these things are happening. So at a time like this, I know this is a dangerous thing to talk at a time like this, When a microbial, You know, Micro life like a virus is threatening our life, I am talking about making deals with them. Because long term well-being, Particularly your psychological and emotional well-being, At a time like this, When tomorrow is a definite uncertainty, It always is, But you have some sense of fixed certainty in your mind. But now, You clearly know it is uncertain and you're struggling with the uncertainty of life. When this is so, Keeping your gut happy is very important. It is very important, At least this much you must do, Particularly those of you who are here in the Western countries who are buying even fermented stuff like, Let's say, Curd or yogurt, At least this much you must learn to ferment your own curd in natural conditions with natural milk. Everything coming to you from a factory, Probably there's not much life left in it. Well now, There are people who are selling probiotics. The whole world is full of. . . The whole planet is full of probiotic. That also must come from the marketplace, Otherwise you cannot trust it. Well, I think this situation, Post-virus, Whenever that is, That is also uncertain. We don't know when that is, Because just I think three weeks ago in India, We were all feeling, This is it, We have mastered this damn virus. In such a large population, We have contained it. But the moment economic activity opened up, It's just going crazy all over the place. So nobody has a handle over it. When this situation is on, The best thing to do is, Everything in this system must be. . . For lack of vocabulary I'm saying happy, Must be comfortable. Your gut must be comfortable, Your head must be comfortable, Your entire system must be comfortable, Because in pleasantness of experience, Your immune system functions at its best. That is an acknowledged fact everywhere. So keeping it well is very important, But tomorrow you don't know what is tomorrow. Right now your only goal, First goal, Not the only goal, The most basic goal is tomorrow you must be alive. That's the important thing. Don't think this is a joke. This is not a joke anymore. I think the number of deaths in the world is closing up to a million. So it is no more a joke, It is real. Well, A chief of some. . . A hospital in United States has shared this, It's. . . I think it's on the social media. Young people are having COVID parties. Here the challenge is, Let us see who will get infected today. Okay? They're meeting for a party and having whatever they have. And the challenge is, Let's see who will get infected. So a thirty-year-old young man died about four days ago, And his last words were, I thought this whole thing is a fake, But now I know it's for real. But too late, He passed away, Thirty-year-old. So it's very important to understand this is for real. Uncertainty is for real, Uncertainty is. . . Uncertainty is always real, But it's coming home to everybody's minds now that tomorrow how you and me will live, It is a question mark. How our economic status will be, Where you will be, What you will do, All these things question marks. I'm not trying to paint a bleak picture. All I'm telling you is, If you stay alive, It's still good. See, Just look back and see. Hundred years ago, Why hundred years ago, Twenty-five years ago, None of us had a cell phone, Very few of us had a television. Everything that we have today was probably at fifty percent of what we have today. If you go back one hundred years, Probably what we had at that time, People what they had at that time was ten, Fifteen percent of what we have today. If you go back a thousand years, Well, You can't talk percentages, It was minimalistic. Even if you go back ten thousand years, Even when people lived in caves, They knew about the uncertainty of life, Every day was a struggle for food and everything. Today you struggle, Though everything is assured, That's a different matter. That is because both. . . Both your brains in your gut and up there, Both are out of control. But even then, Those who are happy were happy. Half naked men and women living in caves, They also had fun, Once their stomach was full, They were happy. They sang their own songs, They danced their own dances. They lived well, I'm saying, For what was there. So whether we live well or not is not essentially dependent upon the arrangements. Our arrangements may shrink. One thing, As I've been repeatedly saying, That every nation should take care of, And India has a crucial role in this is, We must ensure substantial food is produced. Whether people have money to buy it or not, It doesn't matter. If there is substantial food on the planet, We can see that nobody starves. As long as there is no starvation, Reorganization of our lives, Reorganization of our economies, Reorganization of our social structures, All this, You must be able to go through it as a challenging exercise of our lives. Only when our life is threatened, Either due to lack of food or something else, That is a different kind of challenge. Because you're here now, This is our time on the planet. What we make out of it is entirely ours. Definitely you know, Even twenty-five or fifty years ago, Forget about the wars and famines and horrible things that happened, Even in normal conditions, Their life compared to how our lives are organized today, Were not even ten, Twenty percent of what it is today, But still they lived well. I know twenty-five, Fifty years ago we lived well. So, You know there is a buzzard, Like a. . . Like a vulture. We call it a vulture in India, Maybe they're slightly different, I do not know. A lone buzzard which always comes and sits on a dry branch in a tree, A single tree outside my window, And he comes and sits there, I've been watching him. He always comes and sits there and looks at me. I'm not a customer yet. So I wrote a little poem. It's called, My Day. A lonely buzzard sits upon a tree at my window. A lonely buzzard sits upon a tree at my window. He looks at me with interest, Seems disappointed that I am a bit too alive. He looks at me with interest, But seems disappointed that I am a bit too alive. He wants me or someone or something to die. He wants me or someone or something to die. But he looks like an icon of patience. But he looks like an icon of patience. The limits of his patience is the length of lease of life that we have. The limits of his patience is the length of lease of life that we have. I say to him, I shall not keep you waiting forever, Nor will it be too soon. I say to him, I shall not keep you in waiting forever, Nor will it be too soon. You shall have your day, But this is my day. You shall have your day, But this is my day. This is our time. Well, The virus also lives at our time, But it's important that we are a habitat for all these things and still manage to live. They are just always depending on us to live. So we must have some mastery over how we are. If this one thing comes into you that your gut and your brain are not sloshing around, Whatever tomorrow's situation, We'll deal with it. It's going to be a challenge for every one of us. But this is the nature of being human, That challenges make us rise, Not fall. Some will choose to get crushed, Unfortunately. But it's my wish and my blessing, Every one of you should rise, Because there is certainty in this aspect that we are the peak of evolution on this planet. We have to show it in the way we live. How fearful the virus is about not finding a new habitat, That he is not able to infect you because you are effectively social distancing. Have you thought about his psychological problems? How he must be suffering, Because all of you are sitting like this, Eight feet, Ten feet away, Not able to jump with. . . It is not within his long jump distance. How he must be suffering, That's his life. He has to go through that. But there are many people who are cooperating for him. You should not be one of them. This is the fundamental responsibility that you live through this, Do you understand? This is not a joke anymore. You live through this, This is important and live through this joyfully, Peacefully and well. Well, We may not be wearing what we are wearing in a year's time, We may not be driving what we are driving in a year's time, We may not be eating what we are eating in a year's time. Possible or everything may get back to normal. We don't know, Virus willing. You have questions, Please. Questioner 1 – Sadhguru, During the lockdown we have gained a lot of weight from overeating and no physical activity. Can you offer us some simple weight loss tips, Please? Sadhguru – So, I was talking about your psychological struggles, Now your physiological struggles. I was in Chennai a few years ago and I was talking to some of the business community in Chennai. They were not particularly obese or something but little trying to imitate the planet. Not by being on a spin, In form I mean. So I said, You know, As a generation of people, Look at your condition. If I had come to Chennai fifty years ago or hundred years ago, In what physical form people would be, In what level of physical fitness they would be, Ordinary people, I'm talking about. . . I'm not talking about gymnasts, Sports persons, Not those kind of people, Ordinary people on the street. Or even now, In what kind of physical strength and condition people are. In rural India, For example, I said, See suppose it so happened, You were walking on the street and you saw a tiger, A wild tiger, Hungry one. How many of you can at least climb a tree? And this is a spectacular show, A tiger on a Chennai street. This is not a everyday happening. It is something you must enjoy. But how many of you can climb a tree, Which is the trunk of it, Usually the city trees, What is on the avenues and stuff, Is not more than eight to twelve feet. How many of you can climb this eight to twelve feet and sit on a branch and enjoy the wildlife view? No. Only those guys who are doing the menial jobs, The guy who is sweeping the street, Maybe he will go sit on the tree and watch how wonderful a breakfast you are. Why have you become like this? It's not the tiger is. . . Where is the tiger going to come? That's not the point. Why are you in this condition that you cannot do anything physically anymore? All you can go to office and come back. Those things are also necessary in today's world, But is it not important that you are in some way physically competent? Physical competence is a reflection of your physiological strength. And your physiological strength in many ways is the foundation for your psychological balance. It is no more in question, That's what I was talking about this gut all the time. Your physiological strength is the foundation for your psychological balance in many, Many ways. We've always been saying this, The yoga. . . Yogic sciences, But people have been laughing at it, Because everything is keyhole. People say brain is a separate study. That's why yesterday I confessed with all the neuro experts. See I don't have a brain. At least most of the time it's not working. I keep it off. There is enough from. . . From the tips of my hair to my toes, There are enough cells with enough memory and intelligence, They will do my life. I have disciplined them nicely, They will do my life the way I want. Because a large part of day to day work and day to day functioning is. . . Is just a repeat work. All you need is a clerk. You don't need a super brilliant person to do all these things. So I've trained them and they do their work. I don't have to think how to eat, How to sit, How to stand, How to breathe, Nonsense. It just happens by itself. Because a very stable and effervescent physiological condition is very, Very important to have a certain level of psychological freedom. Otherwise, Every little thing you do, You have to think. Once you think, Inevitably you're confused about every damn thing that you do. Now, You're talking about because. . . Because of virus you ate too much. This is not because of virus you're eating too much. This is. . . This is a kind of a compensatory activity that, You know, You will see this in the cinema theatres and everything. If you have nothing to do. . . Never before in the history of humanity was food simply available like this all the time. It's a wrong thing that everywhere you walk there is food. It should not be. I see some of the corporations in America are organizing like this. Food and toilet should always be within whatever fifty feet or hundred feet something they're fixed, Fifty feet I think, Within fifty feet of wherever you are, There must always be food. And that food is usually one month old, Of course. And there is a toilet. No, I think food and toilet both must be far away. Then you will keep your physiology in a conscious condition. Everywhere there is toilet, It's not good, Because body has certain resilience. You wanting to run to the toilet is not just physiological, Sometimes it may be when the body. . . At some time it's disturbed, At that time it may be. Otherwise in normal conditions, It is more a psychological condition than a physiological condition. That all the time you want to message, Not because you have something very significant to say, It is simply because it's a release. Similarly, Going to the toilet is a release, Sexuality is a release, Wherever, Whenever, Whatever, All the time the same things because you are building up nonsense within yourself, All the time you need a release, All the time release. These things are being openly talked about as part of psychiatry that you must find release. Why are you pent up? I think in one of the interviews some journalist was asking me, Said, ''Sadhguru, What do you do to unwind yourself? '' I said, ''What? Why will I wind myself up first of all? I don't wind myself up and then want to unwind somewhere. '' What are you? Are you a grandfather clock or something? You wind yourself up. Even the watch doesn't need any winding anymore, It runs by itself. Why are you winding yourself up? This is simply because you understand life as an accumulation. Yes, Body is an accumulation, Mind is an accumulation, But life is not an accumulation. It's a phenomena that's happening. If you have not tasted that phenomena, You know only accumulations, You always think the safety is in accumulation, Whether it's wealth, Money, This, That and body. But at least your money you can keep it in the bank, Though it may be heavy in your mind. But if you accumulate too much body, You have to carry it around every moment of your life. And in the world today, In the world today, Thirty percent of the population is malnourished. And around the same percentage of people are obese, Overweight. See you can fix it. The world's problems of malnourishment you can fix it. So, This practice is there in the Isha Yoga Center. Whenever cause comes up, When Isha Vidya, You know, Educating rural children, Raising funds for it became a problem, Then many people in the yoga center took this up. On Wednesday evenings, I won't have dinner and let that money go to the children. I think you must find seven causes like this. I can give you seven. Monday for Rally for Rivers, Tuesday for Cauvery Calling, Wednesday for Isha Vidya, Thursday is called Guru-R, This is for your Sadhguru. Friday for Devi, Because that's our day. Saturday, You have your dinner, I'm reducing one day. Sunday, Tch, For Jana Linga. Like this you find seven or at least six causes, Where six dinners you give away. Morning you eat, All right? Ten o'clock in the morning you eat well and again eat ten o'clock tomorrow morning. And also, Because you need to keep social distancing, Drive out of the town and walk back. Get into your bus, Take a. . . Buy a ticket for ten kilometers away and just walk back. Best you go without your phone or on. . . And your wallet, So that you have to walk back. Do something, Come on. Already there is one problem, You want to multiply your problems, Hmm? You want to increase the size of your problem? Don't do that. There's enough problem already. I'm telling you there's substantial problem. Just because I'm laughing and joking about this, Don't think there is no problem. There is substantial problem. Don't fool yourself because if your body and your mind is in a certain condition, You can easily fool yourself. This happened, Shankaran Pillai was running a garment shop here in United States. And a lady came to buy some kind of a pullover. So, He promised her it is one-hundred percent wool. She took it, Went home. The next day she came back and she said, You said it's one-hundred percent wool, But here the label says it is made in Bangladesh and it's one-hundred percent cotton. He said, Ma'am, Don't you be fooled by this. The label is only to fool the moths. Like this, There are so many labels all over the world. Don't go by that. You. . . This is a simple experiment you must do, All of you who are sitting now on the floor, When you get up, You must use only two limbs to stand up. All of you in your life, You must keep this of however old you are. This is a simple test for you, You sit down cross-legged, And when you want to stand up, You use only two limbs, That means you don't do four-wheel drive. Just get up with your legs. This much fitness at least you must manage. If you can't climb a tree, There are not enough tigers to, You know, For them to roam in your city. If you can't climb a tree, It's okay, But at least you must be able to stand up. This much fitness you must maintain. Please do that for yourself. I think we've gone over time. Say this after me. Yogeritova, Gogeritova Sangarathova Sangavina Yasya Brahmani Ramate Chittang Yasya Brahmani Ramate Chittang Nandati Nandati Nandateva Nandati Nandati Nandateva Satsangatve Nisangatva Nisangatve Nirmohatva Nirmohatva Nischalatatva Nirmohatva Nischalatatva Nischalatatva Jeevanmakte Nischalatatva Jeevanmakte Punarapi Jananam Punarapi Maranam Punarapi Janani Jadaresayanam Ihasamsare Bhatustare Kripayapare Pahimurare Kripayapare Pahimurare Jai Radha Jai Radha Jai Radha Jai Radha Jai Radha Jai Radha Jai Radha Jai Radha Jai Radha Jai Radha Jai Radha Jai Radha Jai Radha Jai Radha

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Where to start? Illuminating as ever 🙏