Juhi Chawla: Namaskaram. This is Juhi Chawla Mehta. Now days, all kids are glued to their mobile phones, tablets, iPads all day. So, what is to happen to them – one, because of this whole exposure to radiation, and two – the pressure of social media?
Sadhguru: Namaskaram Juhi. Technology is a tremendous enabler in our lives. How many things have become easy, and our lives have become so enhanced because technology facilitates so many things in our lives. Well, what you are actually complaining of is not technology, you are complaining of human compulsiveness. They start eating, they don’t know when to stop eating. If they start drinking, they don’t know when to stop drinking. So, whatever they start doing, they become compulsively addictive to it.
So, right now the thrill is about the gadgets, for this generation. So, technology is not to be blamed. We have not addressed human compulsive nature. Human compulsiveness can only be addressed with consciousness. More conscious way of existing. To become conscious, there are many tools. We have not propagated this large scale in our society. It has to become a part of our existence. At a very early age, children should learn to live consciously. Once they are conscious, they know when to use what and how much to use – it’s individual choice.
At a very early age, children should learn to live consciously
About radiation. I want you to understand, most probably, it is like, you know, we initially used to think only those who are smoking are going to get affected. But then we realised passive smokers may be more affected than the smoker himself or herself. So similarly, somebody else may be using technology around you, there is wifi in your house, people are using telephones all around you – so you cannot escape that radiation. Yes, it has some consequences. But at the same time, the amount of life that it facilitates, we’re willing to make a trade off with it to some extent. But, to what extent you wish to use technology must be your personal choice.
Coming to social media. Social media is much easier to handle than a live society. When live society was there, your friends, your family, your mother-in-law, your husband, wife, this, that, everything – when they cling to you you can’t switch them off. Social media, if you don’t like it, you can turn off your phone. So I think this mode of interaction gives you much more freedom than the ancient way of interacting with society. Because if you went about the town making lot of friends, you got entangled in so many ways.
Social media is much easier to handle than a live society
Today you’re making friends only by sending messages. When you don’t want, you can keep your phone off, and it’s a done thing. So these are all wonderful conveniences that have come into our life. But, many people are making this also into a great problem and a disease, an illness in their lives.
Recently you must have heard an Andhra Pradesh, a few months ago, a television anchor, a young woman of some 34 years of age, jumped off the 5th floor balcony, and she killed herself. She left a note saying that – nobody is responsible for my death, but my brain is my enemy.
So the greatest things that are given to you can become your enemy, if you don’t learn how to use it responsibly. This goes for everything, not just for gadgets in your hand. This goes for your car, this goes for your food, this goes for your everything that you’re using in your life, including your brain. If you don’t realise how to use it, if it becomes a compulsive process, then it can take your life.
