Isha Yoga - Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev

We are all subject to conflict and pain because people believe in different things - what is real for some is unreal for others. Naturally, conflict cannot be avoided. People might be able to avoid conflict for some time, but some day they will fight. When each believes that only his way is right, people are bound to fight. 

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Though all religions started as an instrument to find the inward path, over time, they have undergone many changes and become different sets of beliefs. Though all religions speak of the value of human life, for the sake of the same religions, today people are willing to take each other’s lives. Much pain and conflict has increased on earth because of this. This basic problem has not been properly addressed. People are always trying to do ‘patch-up’ jobs - between individuals and between groups, but these solutions do not last for long and somewhere conflict will arise. This is because people believe in something which is not yet a reality for them. If you come down to reality, it is the same reality for everybody, no matter what religious background you come from. When you come to belief, each group has its own belief of what is right and what is wrong, what is true and false. You believe in things that you have not seen and experienced. This has become the basis of all conflict. 

The basic purpose of yoga has always been to pursue religion as an inner experience, not as a belief. Don’t start with any belief; start looking inward. Whatever is true, experience it and go further, approach it as a science. In yoga, we ensure that fundamentally a human being can grow or reach his Ultimate Nature, God or the Divine, or whatever you call it, by approaching it either through the body, the mind, emotion, or through inner energies. These are the only four realities that you know. Everything else is imagined. Everything else has been taught to you. 

These are the four basic ways of yoga. If the body is used for growth, it is Karma yoga. If the mind or intelligence is used, it is Gnana yoga. If emotion - love and devotion are used, then it is Bhakti yoga. If you transform your energies and grow, it is Kriya yoga. This is like referring to head, heart, hands and energy. That’s what you are; that’s what every human being is. Nobody is all head, or all heart, or all hands, or all energy, they are a combination of these four dimensions.

So, if a person has to grow, he needs a combination of these four paths of Bhakti, Gnana, Kriya and Karma. Spiritually, there is nothing happening. Unless something of true value happens within a person, nothing of tremendous value can be done in the external world. Whatever you do, it is only your quality that you are going to spread. Whether you like it or not, this is the reality. Who you are is what you are going to spread everywhere. If you are concerned about the world, the first thing is, you must be willing to transform yourself. 

Yoga is about “I am willing to change myself.” This is not about wanting to change the world - it is about your willingness to change. Only when you are willing to change, can a change really happen in this world. When you say, “I want everybody else to change”, only conflict will occur. Only when you are willing to change will there be transformation. It is this self-transformation that will lead to true well-being for the individual and society. A true revolution. 

Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev
Isha Yoga Centre
New No.55, Moosa Street
T Nagar
Chennai - 600 017
Ph: 91-44- 24333185, 24348732

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Published on Feb 28^th, 2006