Q1) Youth is enamored with apps and gadgets. Their day starts with a post and ends with a tweet. How can they take control of their lives in such a situation?

Sadhguru: Those who have not taken charge of themselves will always be distracted by something or the other. So the problem is not gadgets, the problem is of compulsiveness. We have to bring this into our youth, children and adults, that we do not conduct life compulsively. How we eat, sit, stand and function must be done in a conscious way. If it becomes conscious, our use of gadgets also will become a conscious process.

 

Q2) With the impact of information on youth, how can they organize day-to-day life?

Sadhguru: Let’s not complain about information. A hundred years ago, whether a disaster happened or something fantastic happened just hundred kilometers away, it would take a month for you to find out about it. Today you know what’s happening around the world instantly. Technology is not good or bad. It has no quality of its own – it depends on the way we use it. 

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Whatever other technologies you handle – phones, computers or social media – it is not as sophisticated as the human mechanism – the most sophisticated gadget on the planet. You should attend to this first. Then, everything else gets managed naturally. Otherwise the fantastic gift of technology is going to be very stressful. 

 

Q3) How can youth, which is losing connect with family and friends, improve its emotional quotient?

Sadhguru: Emotion is the largest dimension in most human beings, so emotional security is most important. If a human being becomes really conscious, emotion doesn’t matter. But otherwise, emotion plays a significant role. 

So, right from childhood, children must have emotional security. That means there must be a loving atmosphere around them all the time – not just at home, but at school, on the street – wherever a child goes, he or she must experience a sense of love and welcome. This is the most significant aspect that we should take care of for the future wellbeing of humanity.

Q4) What lessons can youth learn from animals or pets?

Sadhguru: These days, a lot of people are choosing dogs over human beings because a dog means a 12-year guaranteed love affair! We do not know whether God is love, but dog for sure is love! It doesn’t matter how you treated your dog in the morning, when you go home in the evening, the kind of welcome the dog gives you, no wife, husband or child will ever do that for you. 

So it’s not surprising that many people love their dogs more than the people in their family. But how much love you feel for a dog, you can feel the same way for a human being too, because love is not about your dog, friends or family, love is about you. 

Love happens within you. If you become very loving, your existence will be pleasant. Only if you are pleasant, you will dare to explore all dimensions of life. Otherwise, unpleasant thoughts, emotions and body will keep you busy all the time. If you make the mind, body and emotion pleasant and loving, there will be no fear of suffering in you.  Only when there is no fear of suffering will you be able to walk full stride in this life.

Editor’s Note: Watch the Youth and Truth #UnplugWithSadhguru playlist, a comprehensive compilation of Sadhguru’s talks and interactions with the youth and students of India. New videos will be added to this playlist as more videos are released from the Youth and Truth events, so remember to visit this playlist again!