Questioner: You said many times Shi-va means ‘that which is not’, then again there is, you know, Aadiguru, Adiyogi, the Shiva who lived in Kailash, who lived in Kashi. What is that like, what is ‘that which is not’, and what is this Shiva whom you talk as Adiyogi?
Sadhguru: See, Shi-va means ‘that which is not’. When we say that which is not, we are talking about a dimension which is not physical in nature. Because our perception, our sense perception is such, that we can only perceive that which is physical.
Shi-va means ‘that which is not’
See, right now you can see my hand because it’s stopping light. You can’t see the air because it’s not stopping light. Though the air that you breathe right now is more vital to your life than my hand, isn’t it? But you can see this, you can’t see that. In other words, our senses are geared to see only what is required for our survival process. Anything more than that if you want to see, you need a certain enhancement of perception.
So entire yogic system is enhancement of this perception. Yoga is not a philosophy, it is not an ideology, it’s not something that you believe in or disbelieve in. It is something that you use to enhance your perception, to sharpen your perception in such a way, you can see things that you’re not seeing right now, you can hear things that you’re not hearing right now.
See, right now the meteorological department is saying, “day after tomorrow it’s going to rain.” You look and see, does your eyes say that? No, it doesn’t. But I’m telling you, there are many birds and animals here which all know that day after tomorrow it’s going to rain. Ants know it’s going to rain day after tomorrow. But you don’t know. Why? Is it a fact, in the evolutionary process, as human beings we have the most evolved neurological system? Yes? But they know and we do not know. Simply because most human beings have burdened themselves with too much thought and too much emotion. They have not learnt this fundamental, how to handle their thought and how to handle their emotion.
So our own intelligence has become an impediment. That we don’t even see things that an ant sees or an elephant sees or a tiger sees or even a dog sees. If you can’t find out something, you bring dogs to find out today, isn’t it? Because they… they seem to smell it out better, they seem to know things better than you. Because of that, we created instruments. Because we have an intelligence which is of a certain kind and which is still new to us, in evolutionary scale it’s still new to us. Because of this, we came up with tools, mechanisms, instruments. So, we can’t see up there, what is there, so we put a telescope.
Now, meteorological department is not run by the ants, it is run by human beings. They themselves cannot see, but they made instruments which will see. Yes? The ants may be able to see by themselves for their survival. We are not able to see because there is too much thought and emotion going on. But, now we came up with instruments which will see for us, which will hear for us, which will tell us things which we ourselves are not able to do. So in this entire process, what is visible and what is not visible, what has a physical structure and what does not have a physical structure, we started exploring all these things.
But the fundamental of our science, or the pursuit of our science is called as physics. Physics is the only real science, rest is all offshoots of that. So when you say physics, you have clearly stated, you only want to study that which is physical. This is a folly. This is the biggest mistake we’ve made. Now we are saying, “Only if it’s physical, it can be studied and it exists. Anything that is not physical does not exist.” Is it a fact that your physical body is an accumulation? Over a period of time you accumulated. So, if only this is real, you as a person, you as a life is not real, this is what we’re stating. I’m saying, this is where the fundamental flaw is.
So, Shi-va means that which is not. So we are talking about in some way accessing that, which is not physical or which is not in the purview of so-called physics or the modern science as we’re talking about it. Today, modern science knows that there seems to be something beyond. So now they’re saying your logic won’t get you there, so they’re inventing something called as fuzzy logic. But still it’s not enough because still you’re trapped in your own setups. Because it’s physics. You are only willing to accept the physical as reality. That means your very life is not a reality. The life that you are is not a reality, only your body is reality. So we have developed an entire culture based on this.
When you say Shi-va, in a way you’re transcending that limitation. Of cultural limitations, scientific limitations, the mindset limitations that people have. Then where did he come from? If you grasped certain things and you got a certificate, you have grasped certain aspects of human body, we will tell you, “Oh, she’s doctor.” So, how did you become a doctor? Because you perceived something. So now, a yogi came. He never bothered to introduce himself, so we call him the first yogi. Adiyogi means the first yogi. Because he never told us his name. Then somebody said, “But he’s Shiva because he’s grasped ‘that which is not’.” Because he has grasped ‘that which is not’, we also call him Shiva. So, right now in the popular culture he is Shiva but in the spiritual culture he’s Adiyogi.
Because for us, he’s a yogi, that’s why we’re interested in him. Because he experienced ‘that which is not’, we also call him Shiva. Now, if you look here, the male members of… the people who are sitting here, more than seventy percent of them, their names are some expression of Shiva. Have they realized something, have they seen ‘that which is not’? No. But they are capable. So we know they are potential Shiva. So we call them also Shiva.
We may even name our dog Shiva, okay? We don’t think it’s an offence. Because a dog does not know ‘that which is not’, a dog is not a yogi, the dog is not going to realize either in his life, but we know he also comes from the same source as I came, as you came. He also comes from the same source. So we don’t think it’s a improper thing to call our dog also yoga. Some people are getting very offended that I said this. They can get offended, because I don’t think – maybe they use the word ‘dog’ as a derogatory term – I don’t think there’s anything derogatory about being a dog. Most people trust a dog more than the human beings.
So as far as I am concerned, I can even call a grasshopper Shiva. And I do. If I see a tree, I say Shiva. If I see a rock, I say Shiva. If I just look into the empty sky, I say Shiva. If I see a moon, I’ll say Shiva, if I see a star, I say Shiva. So, are these rocks going to realize that they’re Shiva? No. They may not realize, but I have realized. That’s a big difference.
