Questioner: It’s been slightly more than an year for me in the sadhana. And, what I observe is, the worldly entanglements… as the sadhana is intensifying, the worldly entanglements are also intensifying… I mean, they are also becoming more intense. And, the societal entanglements are also becoming intense – challenging me, and maybe my emotions very frequently. I mean, is this normal. Can you dispel this please.
Sadhguru: I’m sorry, I didn’t get this. As your sadhana becomes intense, the pressures from the society also becoming intense?
Questioner: Not the pressure from the society. The entanglement with the society, or the worldly entanglements
Sadhguru: Are you referring to your family as society?
Questioner: Everything. So, how do I handle this?
Sadhguru: We need to understand this. We are experiencing life the way we are experiencing not because that’s how life is, because that’s how we are. Our experience of life is essentially determined by us, not by what’s happening around us. There are situations in the world – family, work, street, many things, nation, world, all kinds of situations. Whatever happens in the outside situation has a certain amount of impact on our physical lives. Definitely it has, isn’t it? But it does not determine the nature of our experience.
The nature of our experience simply depends on how we are. Situations, of course, are dependent on million other people. Your life situation right now, living in Kolkata, what every citizen of Kolkata is doing has some impact on your life situations. But it need not have any impact on your experience of life. Because your experience of life is essentially determined by you, you, and you alone – nobody else but you.
Your experience of life is essentially determined by you, you, and you alone – nobody else but you
If you understand this, that is the basis of Sadhana. You are sitting down with your eyes closed, just to understand experientially, that everything that I experience is coming from within me. Pain and pleasure are coming from within you. Joy and misery are coming from within you. Agony and ecstasy is happening from within you. If you understand this much, then would you choose pain or pleasure? Would you choose joy or misery? Agony or ecstasy? That’s all – you know the choice.
If you are confused about the choice, then you would need lot of lessons. Your choice is clear for yourself, 100% clear. So when it is so clear, choice is clear, only thing is, your ability to make the choice. That’s all you need to enhance. If you did not know what to choose, it would be more complicated. Your choice is 100% clear, only to be able to choose. That’s what sadhana is about. Not about losing it, but about getting it back – that you are able to choose what should happen within you right now. Misery or joy, agony or ecstasy, pain or pleasure – what should happen in this [self]. You are the only person who is determining this.
But, you know sometimes if you are miserable, you get some things. Right now from childhood you’ve been trained like this. If you act miserable, somebody will attend to you. You will get certain things. As a child you were miserable, your mother gave you two extra rasagullas! That manifested something in your mind. If I’m miserable, I’ll get what I want. But if you are miserable, whatever you get – what’s the point! Yes! Once you are miserable, whatever you get – what is the point? If you are joyful, you don’t get anything – so, who the hell cares!
So, clear this up. Sadhana and experience of life are not in anyway connected to make it miserable or joyful. Sadhana is just giving you access to realise, your experience of life is caused by you, and you alone, nobody else but you. That’s what sadhana is about. It is not trying to make you joyful. It is not trying to make you blissful. It is not trying to make you miserable. No. It is just bringing the awareness, that it is you, who is causing it. Once you understand it’s you, who is causing it – experientially, not here [mind] – you will cause utmost pleasantness, isn’t it? Will you cause misery? No. You will cause utmost pleasantness, nothing less than that.
It is important in everybody’s life that – whatever time that’s possible for you, maybe a week in a year, or 15 days in a year, or whatever, twice a year, or whichever way – but, you must invest a certain amount of time, just for this [self] being. It’s very important. Not for your career, not for your family, not for this, not for that – just for this [self] being. A little amount of time at least. Every year alloting that will pay off in a big way. If you do not invest on this [self], this will remain stagnant. Without investment, there will be no dividend, isn’t it? Yes? The whole country maybe in an economic boom, but if you have not invested, you’ll remain right there.
