‘Yoga’ is the science for inner well-being and looking inward is the only way out

15,000 years of the legacy of yoga was talked about in public for the first time on the international forum and the United Nations declared 21st June as International Yoga Day (IYD). This significant step was the foundation stone for making inner consciousness and well-being global and realizing that it is the only way out. Beyond any religion or caste, inclusive consciousness of human beings can be achieved through ‘Yoga’.

In this context, ‘Sadhguru’, the founder of the Isha Foundation says, “The significance of the United Nations declaring an International Day of Yoga is that we can remove the misconceptions that people have about Yoga – that it does not belong to any particular culture, or religion, or nation. It is the science for inner well-being. As there is a science and technology for external wellbeing, there is a science and technology for inner wellbeing. So, the UN declaring this day clearly recognizes that Yoga is a tool for inner wellbeing. Anyone who is interested in their wellbeing needs to turn inward. Or in other words, we have looked up in search of wellbeing and divided humanity. We have looked out in search of wellbeing and destroyed the world. Looking inward is the only way out. It is the only way out – that is the message for the International Day of Yoga.”

‘Sadhguru’ quenched many of my queries and replied to a multitude of questions that I asked-

When I asked- What does the Adiyogi symbolize? How is he different from Lord Shiva?

Sadhguru replied- 'The word “Shiva” literally means “that which is not.” Today, modern science is proving to us that everything comes from nothing and goes back to nothing. The basis of existence and the fundamental quality of the cosmos is vast nothingness. The galaxies are just a small happening – a sprinkling. The rest is all vast empty space, which is referred to as Shiva. That is the womb from which everything is born, and that is the oblivion into which everything is sucked back. Everything comes from Shiva and goes back to Shiva.

Another dimension of Shiva is Adiyogi, the first Yogi, who opened up the incredible science of Yoga for humanity. The Yogic culture moves seamlessly from invoking Shiva as the basis of creation to invoking Shiva as the first Yogi.

Is this contradictory? Not at all, because once Yoga or ultimate union has happened, there is no longer a distinction between ultimate reality and the one who has experienced it.'

Sadhguru initiated many projects, viz., Project Green Hands, Rally for Rivers, Cauvery Calling, and Save Soil. While discussing his current project, and vision for life, he said, “Everything that we have done is fundamentally about creating conscious human beings – raising human consciousness towards the right kind of action. A “conscious human being” means the basic platform is not your body, your psychological drama, or your emotional drama. The basic platform is life which, in its very essence, is naturally connected to everything else.

Soil is the very foundation of life. This body – not just ours, but that of all life forms – is just an outcrop of this soil. If soil is not alive, there is no way life can happen here. Project GreenHands, Rally for Rivers, Cauvery Calling and Save Soil are not different things. They have all been about soil, but we talked about trees and rivers because people can relate to them much more easily. But they are all connected.

So don't think I am doing something different every two years! It is all about life, foundational life, but it is just being spoken with a different focus.

Fundamentally, human beings have lost connection with what is life and everything that nourishes and sustains life around us. The ecological destruction we have caused is only because we are in a mode of unconscious, compulsive action. Only when our societies move into a conscious mode, can our activities be oriented towards a solution. In this context, creating a conscious planet is the most important goal.

In 2024, we will be launching a global movement called Conscious Planet. Its aim is to ensure that two to three billion people have a 12–15-minute spiritual practice, because there is only one problem on the planet – the human being. If this human being is a little more sensible, so many problems would disappear right now.”

Discussing the role of yoga and meditation in handling mental health issues, Sadhguru answered, 'We need to understand that our physical and mental health are both fundamentally our responsibility. People think doctors have to fix our lives. If we get the virus, we will go to the doctor because it is an external invasion and we need help. But so many people are making themselves miserable with their own thought and emotion. This is called self-help! Resentment, anger, hatred – these are poisons that you drink but you expect someone else to die. Life does not work like that. If you drink poison, only you die.

This is happening because we have not taken charge of our own body, mind, emotion and energy. As there is a science and technology to fix the external situations, there is a whole science and technology to fix the inner situations. This is what we are calling as "Inner Engineering". This is what the Yogic sciences are about. You can change the very fundamental chemistry of who you are.'

Not belonging to a spiritual background, when I asked him about the moment, or the guiding force that led him towards yoga and spirituality, Sadhguru mused, 'I was involved in business and enterprise and doing many things at a time, very successfully. Suddenly one afternoon, a certain inner experience changed everything about me in just a matter of a few hours. So, there I was, sitting on top of a hill. Till that moment, what was me and what was someone else was very clear. But I sat there and suddenly, I did not know which is me and which is not me. What was “me” was all over the place. I thought just about ten to fifteen minutes had gone by, but actually, four-and-a-half hours had passed. For the first time in my life there were tears in my eyes, which was just not possible for me. Every cell in my body was bursting with an ecstasy that I had never known. Everything that I had known as myself as a person had just vanished and I was simply empty and ecstatic.

So, my work has been just to try and rub off this experience on people, because every human being is capable of this – simply knowing the ecstasy of being alive,' he added.