Questioner: Namaskaram Sadhguru. I wanted to know how does a Guru transfer the yogic knowledge or information by means of transmission? The mechanics of it, the mechanics of that. How is it done?
Sadhguru: Like a cordless microphone, you know? See, without being wired, you’re able to transmit. You’re quite capable. It’s happening, isn’t it?
So, how? See, of the 114 chakras that are there in the body – a chakra literally means a wheel, but what we are referring to is, the junction points of the nadis, or the energy pathways in the body. These pathways always meet in the form of a triangle. A wheel means a circle. Definitely, triangular wheels are more jazzy, isn’t it? Wouldn’t it look better?
They always meet in the form of triangles, but we call them a chakra, because when we see in somebody, we see it more as a circle, because it’s radiating a certain dimension of energy. Because it’s radiating, all radiation always happens in circular form. You may throw a triangular stone into a lake, still the ripples are circular, isn’t it? Just like that, this may be a triangle, but when we see it, it is circular. And another thing is, it suggests movement from one dimension to another, we say it’s a chakra because it takes you across.
So, there are 114 chakras in the system, major chakras – there are more. Major chakras which can be worked upon are 114. Out of these 114, 2 are outside the physical body, 112 are within the body. Out of these 112, 4 – there is nothing much to do about them. That is, if you work the other things, these things will happen by themselves, they don’t need any system to be worked upon. So, 108 are the things that can be actually worked upon. So, there are 114 systems of meditativeness.
Adiyogi taught 112 different ways to realize. So, when he sat down with the 7 sages, the Saptarishis, he was expounding as to how the human mechanism functions, and there are 114, out of these 112 – so, he spoke about 112 ways of attaining one’s ultimate nature.
Parvati, his wife, who was a witness to this teaching, she’s already attained. But now she’s a witness, she’s just hanging around in the program. So, she was looking at it, and she said, “Why not more? Why only 112? There should be more ways.” Shiva was completely focused on what he was doing, when she said this, he just dismissed her. He said, “There are no other ways, there are only 112.” She felt stung that in front of these 7 people he dismissed her like that, so she said, “There must be more ways, maybe you don’t know.” He said, “There are only 112. This is impertinence.” He said, “Leave!” So, she said “I will find more ways,” and she went.
She withdrew into the mountains and did very severe austerities, and after many years of work, she came. Shiva was still expounding various dimensions of yoga. She came… being his wife, after such a long absence, she could come and sit next to him. But she came and sat down one step below, to indicate that she has failed. So, that’s a language between the 2 of them, she doesn’t want the 7 people to know that she failed. But she wants him to know that she’s failed, so she came and sat one step below.
So this story continues into various other aspects as to how she involved herself, and she’s being used as somebody who brings doubt. He’s going with such absolute power, these 7 people are overawed. So, she’s brought in as an uncommitted observer who comes up with doubts here and there. Because somewhere, tomorrow when it is taught, not everybody may be as committed, and as focused, and as receptive as these 7 people were – naturally, they will come up with these doubts. So, she came up with these doubts, which normally people would come up with.
So, these 108 are the things that you can work with. The remaining 4 just flower for you – this is a bonus. If you work well with 108, the other 4 will happen. It’s a rewarding place. The other 2 will anyway happen. If these 112 have happened, the other 2 will anyway blossom by themselves. They are not within the physical structure of the body.
So these 108 – this 108 is a number, that has manifested in this system because of 108 being a significant process, or a significant number in the making of the solar system. So, the diameter of the sun and the distance between the planet and the sun is hundred and eight times over. The diameter of the moon and the distance is 108 times. The distance between the moon and the planet, and the distance between the sun and the planet is 108 times over. Like this, in many ways you will see 108 being a proportion in the making of the solar system. That is the reason why – otherwise, maybe we would have had 160. Suppose we were born in Mars, maybe we would have had 160, or whatever. You must check the men and see.
The important thing about hatha yoga is to constantly acknowledge that this body has taken shape like this, this body has become this kind of manifestation mainly because the way the potter’s wheel is, because of the solar system the way it is, that is why this manifestation. So, Adiyogi very clearly said, if this human body has to evolve further, some dramatic or drastic changes need to happen in the structure of the solar system. Only then the structure of the human body will change, because it’s reached its fullest development in terms of physical structure.
Now, one can transmit effortlessly if all of this has opened up. If all the 112 are on, transmission is effortless. You want something to happen there, you don’t have to go there, you can sit here and make it happen. To live a normal life, to live a full-fledged physical life, you need only 21 chakras. 21 chakras in your body are reasonably operating, nobody will think anything wrong with you – you will be full-fledged human being. What are the remaining things about? The remaining things if they open up, it opens up various levels of perception. It opens up dimensions of perception that suddenly people will start saying is magical, or mystical, simply because different dimension of perception has opened up.
So, only 21 are needed to live a full-fledged life, the remaining are only about higher dimensions of perception, that you’re no more human, in other people’s understanding at least. You are very much human, this is human system, because most human beings do not… the majority does not flower.
See, right now the coconut trees in Tamil Nadu, I think our trees are yielding some 90 nuts per year, per tree. A better managed farm in Tamil Nadu would yield 120, 125. The same coconut tree in Kerala yields 45 nuts to 50 nuts. The same coconut tree in Karnataka and West Bengal yields 240 to 250 nuts. It’s the farming which is different. Tamil farmers, they’re trying to grow coconut trees in black cotton soil, thinking it’s the most fertile soil. Black cotton soil is very fertile for paddy cultivation, cotton and other things – not good for coconut.
Coconut needs to be grown where there is a little bit of rubble in the soil. Here [Tamilnadu] if you dig, it is like toothpaste, the soil. Now, when you irrigate this land, it’s very nice, immediately coconut tree senses life, and puts out its fresh roots. When it dries, the contraction is so big in the black cotton soil, you will see it all cracked up like this, so it’ll squeeze all the roots, all the tips of the roots will be crushed and it cannot grow. Every time it puts out, when it dries it gets hurt. Every time it puts out, when it dries it gets hurt. It needs little bit of rocky soil. You can try this – you put one little small piece of stone 2 feet inside the earth, water it, after 15 days you open, everything else will be dry, just beneath the rock, there will be little bit of dampness.
So, always coconut tree goes and puts it’s tips of its roots beneath the stones, because it knows always it is wet, always that will be damp, and it will be protected, it’ll not be crushed. The same thing with a human being – a human being will not flower to his full potential unless you create an appropriate atmosphere for him, internal and external. But largely, fortunately, internal.
Because we are mobile, we are not like trees, we cannot stand in one place and have the same atmosphere all the time. But there are people who do this. In India, this culture is there – this is called as kshetra sanyasa. Kshetra sanyasa means we will fix a radius. Let’s say here, we’ll fix a radius from the Dhyanalinga. We will say this much is highly energetic, so those who want to just soak in that all the time, they will take a vow that they will never leave this diameter. This radius they will not leave and go, they will always be in that only. This is a simple intelligence. Like a coconut tree, if it decides to trek up the mountain, it does reasonably well here, but if you put him up the mountain, in one day he will be down. The wind – have you gone up the mountain? If you go to the 7th hill, almost any season, wind will be at least, like 50 to 60 kilometers. In the windy season, it’ll touch 120 to 140 kilometers per hour. If you stand like this, it’ll just throw you out – it’s that strong. So if this guy [coconut tree] goes and stands there, he won’t stand for an hour. So, it better stay here. But the trees are stationary, we are mobile. For us to maintain an external atmosphere which is always conducive is difficult. So some people take this step which is called kshetra sanyasa, they will not move out of that space. They fix a radius, and just within that – so, because you want to soak in that external atmosphere.
But the internal atmosphere is the most important thing for a human being, as to how he keeps his interiority. That he builds a – this is called a kavacha, that you build a cocoon around yourself, a protective cocoon. Wherever you go, you are in the same atmosphere as far as you’re concerned. It’s like you get into an airplane, it goes up 35,000 feet, definitely your body wouldn’t last there. But now you’re in a cocoon, a pressurized chamber – because of that, you manage. The same thing with a submarine – you wouldn’t manage that pressure in the sea, but because you’re protected, you manage. So like this, you create a cocoon of energy around yourself – wherever you go, you’re not a part of it, you are in your own cubicle that you’re walking with. You carry your own cubicle, you don’t get into anybody’s space. You carry your own little space wherever you go. Otherwise you restrict yourself.
But the important thing is that all the chakras are ‘on’ means, you can simply transmit anything that you wish. The problem is always of receptivity. In the past I’ve been saying this – I have initiated more people into meditativeness, those that I have never met and seen, than people that I sit with and conduct programs with. We’ve conducted programs at the most for a few million people, but we’ve initiated many, many more people. They’re meditative, but many fools do not know they can meditate. When they sit – not for meditation, they don’t even know that they must meditate. If they sit somewhere, their experience of everything is way better than others, but many of them still don’t have the brain to understand that they’re naturally becoming meditative, without any effort. Some have, and they sit down. Others don’t sit down, but their experience of life is way better, because they’re meditative in nature, because they’ve been initiated directly.
So, we can transmit this to anybody, receptivity is the problem. To generate receptivity, there is a lot of work to do. So, you can sit here, and let’s say you run a radio station. You can transmit in the air very easily, but if nobody has a radio, what is the use? Let’s say you started transmitting from a radio station before Marconi came, and nobody has a radio but you’re transmitting, and transmitting – what does it matter? Nothing happens, isn’t it? So, that is always there. There is some impact of the transmission on people, even if there’s no receptivity, but it is not- it does not translate into other dimensions, because there is no receptivity.
It is easier to transmit to rocks than to human beings. I’m not trying to praise rocks and insult you, but it’s easier to transmit to rocks because certain type of rocks have the necessary physical integrity, but they don’t have a brain – they don’t think themselves out of things. See, the problem with human being is, largely he has thought himself out of many natural capabilities that he already had. Aren’t people thinking themselves out of their joy? Haven’t they? How they were when they were children, haven’t they… thinking themselves out of their joy, and love, and natural things that they had? So, human beings are thinking themselves out. Because of that, whatever you give them, they can think themselves out.
Today you teach them something – well, you have seen, many of you – they come to Bhava Spandana, and we blow them out. It’s really a hit – whoof! – everybody’s hit, and fantastic, and dripping with ecstasy. But after 6 months, they will think themselves out of it. So, not everybody knows how to use their thought in a constructive manner. Largely, they’re thinking themselves out of their well-being. They were quite well when they were children, they thought themselves out. So, thought is not working always for human benefit. Most people do not know how to use it for their well-being. Largely, people are using it to work against themselves.
If you activate the energy system to its fullest possibility, transmission is natural. You don’t even have to go all the way. If you activate 63, you can transmit quite powerfully. That is the symbolism of the Tamil – Tamil culture is based on 63 nayanmars. They call them 63 sages who came, who transformed Tamil culture in a big way. They brought spirituality to everybody’s life. One thing is, those 63 people, maybe there were more people, but for the sake of symbolism, they left those people, and mentioned only 63.
Any temple you go, you will see small, small images of 63 images, because if you have 63 chakras going, we can say you’re a sage – beginning to be, early sage. If you have 84, you have crossed many, many limits, which normally people think are superhuman. If you reach 108, that means you’re completely there. 114, or fully ‘on’ means, you and Him [Shiva] will be same – no difference.
If you become receptive, I don’t have to come here and explain things to you, somebody need not teach you how to bend, what to do – nothing. You will know everything about human mechanism, everything – from its origin, to its ultimate.
