Questioner: Namaskaram, Sadhguru. Millennials, they do not believe in…
Sadhguru: Which millennial are you? Which millennia do you belong to? I am not a millennial? Everybody is going on taking newer and newer identities, that’s what I’m seeing.
Questioner: So, people my age, they do not believe in god and religion. So how is Mahashivratri relevant to people our age? – Millennials – I don’t know any other words.
Sadhguru: Well, even I do not believe anything – not just god, I don’t believe anything including millennial.
I don’t believe anything. Whatever I see, I try to perceive. What I perceive, I know; what I don’t perceive, I do not know.
But… belief, disbelief, and all these different identities are crippling your ability to perceive, because every identity is of memory, isn’t it? So, the moment you identify with anything that is rooted in your memory, and all identities are rooted in your memory, you kind of crippled your perception. Now you cannot perceive, you will only juggle with permutations and combinations of the possibilities within your memory. This is how human perception is lost, because you made memory more significant than attention and intelligence in human life.
I don’t believe anything. Whatever I see, I try to perceive. What I perceive, I know; what I don’t perceive, I do not know
So memory is not a bad thing, it is useful. But if you’re always dipping your hands in memory, you’re crippled. We have set up a system where memory is misunderstood as intelligence. From this comes your religion, from this comes your scriptures, from this comes your many many social norms. From this comes a whole lot of things that you’re either, you know, confused about or suffering. So you, your gender, your nationality, your race, your religion – everything is memory, isn’t it? So they are selectively dropping one memory and sticking on to another one; that’ll not make them any better.
They will move from one variety of ignorance to another variety of ignorance. “I believe in God” – one level of ignorance. “I believe there is no God” – another level of ignorance. Let me not say “another level,” then you will think you’re on a higher level of ignorance. No, same thing. ”I believe there is God” – this is ignorance. ”I believe there is no God” – this is also equally ignorant. Because you have crippled your perception, you have to make some conclusion and remember that – that’s all. So, don’t go on like this.
”I believe there is God” – this is ignorance. ”I believe there is no God” – this is also equally ignorant
Mahashivratri is not a religious festival; it has something to do with the astronomical phase of this planet. This planet is a part of a larger family that we call as the solar system. That is a part of a larger family that we call galaxies, cosmos, whatever names and names, but essentially, there is nothing happening here in an unrelated way. So we understand that at certain times, in certain positions, the planet behaves in a certain way. And we have figured out what phases of the planet are most advantageous to us.
In that context, Mahashivratri – because there are twelve to thirteen Shivratris in a year. Every month, the fourteenth day is called Shivratri, where there is a natural upsurge. We have identified a specific Shivratri, which comes in the month of February and March – just when the beginning of spring – in the Northern Hemisphere there’s a significant impact on your body, on that day there’s a natural upsurge of energies.
Mahashivratri is not a religious festival; it has something to do with the astronomical phase of this planet
So, when there is such an upsurge of energy, if you keep your body in a horizontal position, then it could impact the body in a negative way. It’s important you keep it in a vertical posture because the natural movement of energies in this [vertical] direction; if you lie down like this [horizontal], it won’t be good, so you must stay up. How to keep you up? Some people go to the bar. Yeah, yeah, I’m telling you. Some people whole night they’re playing cards. Yes! These are all the different things they’re doing. Some people go to late shows. That night, the show doesn’t end with the night show. Three shows in the night that till morning, some movie is going on. So usually some devotional movie, something about Shiva.
So, this is an opportunity. Whichever millennium you were born in, it is an opportunity that the planet is supporting you; the system, the larger system is supporting you to move in an upward direction. Please make use of it, it doesn’t matter you belong to 20th century, 21st century or the second or the third millennia – it doesn’t matter. Because, once again, you know all this only by memory. Millennium is not an existential reality, it’s a social reality – we made it up. Hello?
Spiritual process means you are moving from religion to responsibility
It is very important, one must understand, spiritual process means you are moving from religion to responsibility. I think that’s one thing that everybody could do with, particularly the Millennials. They could do with some responsibility, for sure. Thank you.
