Sadhguru: This happened – you’ve heard of Lao Tzu? Lao Tzu? Lao Tzu is a celebrated Zen master today, even then he gathered a certain number of disciples around him. It’s part of the Zen tradition that when the master or the guru is dying, people gather around for a final message. So at the age of eighty-three or eighty-four, he was passing, so people gathered around him, and asked him, “Master, what is the secret of your joy?”
You know, he faced lot of extreme situations in his life. He was accused of things that he had never thought of, and he went through troubles. So people asked, “You went through so many things, but you were always joyful. What is the secret of your joy?” Lao Tzu said, “Oh that! It’s just that every day in the morning when I woke up, I used to get a question. The question is ‘today shall I be joyful or miserable?’ Till now I just happened to choose joy, that’s all.”
So have you made your choice I am asking? Every day in the morning, if a question comes to you, I will come and ask you a question every day in the morning, “Today, you’re going to be joyful or miserable,” what’s your choice?
Participants: Joyful.
Sadhguru: You must make this choice every day, “Today, I am going to be joyful.” Joy is not a goal by itself. It is just that when you’re joyful, you are pleasant to the world. When you are joyful, you are sensible in your head. When you are joyful, you will not do stupid things against yourself.
There is nobody who’s not been happy, everybody’s been happy, but the problem is they are not able to maintain it, that’s all. So you don’t have to enforce any resolutions upon yourself, just little tools to make sure that you don’t sink.
Tip #1
Suppose, let’s say your life is done. You are on your death bed, tomorrow you’re going to die. If you look back and see, is it all worthwhile? Have you done things that you really wanted to do? Don’t look at it at the end of your life, you must look at it at the beginning of your life. Suppose you are on your death bed, you’re going to die – may be you lived a hundred years – but look back and see, has life been worthwhile, have you done things that really matter to you or no, because most people get truthful only if death is eminent.
Otherwise, they know how to lie to themselves and to everybody. Most people tell the truth only when you put a gun to their head unfortunately (Laughs). I am saying don’t wait for somebody else to put the gun, you put it tonight and watch, “Suppose I am going to die now, have I done things that I really… worthwhile in my life, things that I could be proud of, things that are worth spending my life upon – has my life been done this way?” If you just look at this, you will make an impact on the society, whatever you do. Whatever you do, you will make an impact.
Tip #2
We do not know what you can do and cannot do in your life. Whether you are going to become the richest man in the world, or the most beautiful woman on the planet, you’re going to climb Mt. Everest, or you’re going to beat Mr. Bolt in a hundred-meter race, I don’t know about these things. But every one of you can strive to become a wonderful human being and nobody can deny that to you. Nor people, nor world’s situations, nor inclement weather can deny this to you that you want to be a wonderful human being – nobody to stop you.
So I want you to do a simple process – write down three things when you go home. Whatever you think makes a human being into a wonderful human being, just three things, and make it a reality in your life, what you think is the highest. Don’t do what I want, please do what you want. In your life, if you do not do what you want, it’ll become a wasted life. You don’t have to do what somebody else wants, but three things that you think will make a human being into a truly wonderful human being – these three things make it a reality.
Tip #3
Sadhguru: As it is said, “A man is ill only because he does not know how to be still,” because in stillness, you are in touch with a dimension way beyond creation. So if one has to attain to that grace, at least a certain amount of stillness has to enter your life. For this to happen, a certain level of silence has to enter your life. If right now it is not coming, at least practice a little bit of moun.
In an hour, if you’re speaking 1573 words right now… How many maa? How many words do you spit out in a minute?
Participant: 1573.
Sadhguru: 1573, you’re actually doing that many? I thought that’s impossible. Participant: I speak more than that. Sadhguru: Okay, I believe you. So whatever number you’re doing, see if you can articulate the same things that you are saying with half the number of words. Suddenly you will become extremely conscious of everything. Right now, an oral diarrhea is happening. You’re doing 1573, it’s diarrhea, okay?
Now, if you have to hold back half the words, and still say the same things, now you have to be very conscious otherwise, you cannot say it. Just try this and see, tomorrow, one day, hmm? In an hour, normally what number of words you utter, make it half. Don’t curtail your activity, still say the same things, but with half the words. How wonderful the whole world will feel you know? World will be a wonderful place I am telling you tomorrow, if everybody does this. Hmm? Many marriages will be saved.
Tip #4
This is a simple exercise everybody must do. At the end of the day, sit in your bed and look back on the whole day, from the moment you got up, observing how you’ve been going around. You will notice that ninety percent of the time, you’re quite, well, foolish. I’m being generous with the percentage, believe me. If you’re given a little work, if you’re just entrusted with a smidge of responsibility, you suddenly feel overwhelmingly important, as if you’re bigger than the universe itself.
Reflect on how many times you felt that inflated sense of self-worth. Consider how often you were oblivious to your own mortality and gauge the number of times you moved about, looking at people and things, with complete detachment and no sense of genuine involvement. Take note of these moments, and you’ll find yourself laughing through the night. Instead of getting disheartened, laugh at your own absurdities. You’ll quickly see that all the trivial concerns you’ve been holding onto will transform into valuable lessons, and such lessons, like manure, can be immensely beneficial for personal growth.
Tip #5
In the upcoming twelve months, make a conscious effort to ensure that you’re not the primary issue in your life. Ponder on this: Can you offer yourself the grace to not be a source of trouble? If someone else causes you turmoil, that’s a separate matter, but when you sit alone, you should find peace, not problems. Here’s a strategy to help: Starting today, pinpoint one undesirable trait or habit you want to eliminate.
On every full moon day following this, commit to dropping one more aspect of yourself that you dislike or find unnecessary. It’s important to set achievable goals. For instance, saying, “I will never get angry again” might be overly ambitious. However, deciding, “When I get angry, I will remain silent and not utter a word” is a practical step. Gradually, with one concrete step every month, you’ll find that you’ve transformed significantly. Within a year, you’ll be a fantastic version of yourself, free from self-induced dilemmas. You owe it to yourself to undertake this journey of self-betterment. After all, isn’t personal growth worth the effort?
