Questioner: Namaskaram Sadhguru. In one of your quotes you say that, we should not judge a person’s spiritual evolution based on their behaviour. I’m unable to understand that because I’ve always believed people who are kind and compassionate are spiritually evolved. Could you please help me understand the context of that quote?
Sadhguru: So behaviour does not determine one’s consciousness, or one’s evolution, or one’s transformation. Well, if you have a certain – what spiritual evolution means is from being a hardcore concrete – concretised individual – you become little more porous and becoming more inclusive. Out of your inclusiveness, you may do many things. If things are happening out of your inclusiveness, your gentleness, your loving nature is coming out of your inclusiveness – fantastic. But if it’s a formula that you have learned, that you know by doing these things you will get what you want.
People can cultivate behaviour. But who they are needs transformation
So your behaviour does not determine who you are. People can cultivate behaviour. But who they are needs transformation. Transformation essentially means that the sense of boundary that you had about yourself – this is ‘me’, this has enlarged. That’s all the transformation is. Transformation is not of social behaviour. Transformation is, if you sit here, what was me was just this. Now what is me is much larger than this. That’s all. Out of that, whichever way you behave, it’s okay with me. But there must be inclusiveness, because inclusiveness is better than insurance.
Once you see something as a part of yourself, then what is there about – thank you, and please, and sorry, and things like that. It doesn’t matter – because when you see the other as yourself. I treat everybody as I treat myself – hard!
So, your behaviour – well, if you want to be in a society, yes of course you have to regulate your behaviour. Because it’s not just about you, it’s about everybody around you. But what we’re looking for as ‘good’ behaviour is not necessarily saying specific words, doing certain things, and not doing certain things. No. What we are looking for is that – you walk into this hall, there are 50 people sitting here. Your concern, in every step and every breath that you take – your concern is for these 50 people or just you? That’s all that matters. So one’s spiritual evolution need not be judged by their behaviour.
