Sadhguru looks at the fundamental nature of the human predicament, and explains that a human being will not settle for anything less than everything. Once you set your sights on "All", experiencing something beyond the physicality is the only way - and that's what spirituality is.

Full Transcript:

Sadhguru: Good evening everyone. I will not attempt speaking in Telugu, okay (Laughs)? Once we are born as human beings life got complicated - if we had come here like any other creature on the planet - stomach full, life settled. Once we come as human beings, stomach empty - only one problem, stomach full - one hundred problems; because what we refer to as human really begins only after survival is taken care of. Only when survival is fulfilled, the traits of being human will find expression. Till as long as we are struggling for survival, we are also just another biological entity like any other creature.

So what does it mean to be human, what is the significance? Because every other creature can fulfill almost everything that most human beings are doing without so much fuss. We are born, they are also born just like us. We grow up with lot of fuss, they grow up with… without much fuss. For us earning a living is a very big thing, all of them earn their own living. We may reproduce, they reproduce. We die, they die. All this with… we do with enormous fuss, they do it without much fuss - in a (an?) ec… ecofriendly manner (Laughs) they conduct their life.

Everything is a big fuss. Why it is so is human life is not fulfilled by fulfilling the basic requirements of survival. If we could eat well and everything would be okay, then it would be very simple to feed the world. But that’s not how it is because for every other creature nature has drawn two lines, within which they live and die. For a human being there is only a bottom line, there is no top line. He can aspire for anything. Because there is no top line, people are struggling. Or in other words what we are struggling with is not our bondage as usually popularly it is said – we are truly struggling with our freedom. We can be whichever way we want, that’s our struggle. If our lives were fixed like every other creature’s life we would also be… stomach full, we would sit peacefully, isn’t it? Hello, I’m talking to you. Yes or no? (Laughs)

Participants: Yes.

Time 46:02

Sadhguru: Are we on talking terms or is there a problem? Hello (Laughter)?

Participants: Yes.

Sadhguru: (Laughs) By the end of the evening you may have problems with me, that’s understandable (Laughter) but right now why (Laughter)? It’s the first time I have stepped into Seemandhra (Shrill sound comes from the speakers) (Laughs)… first time I’ve stepped Seemandhra after the new state happened, so let’s be on talking terms (Laughter/Applause). Do you see that if our lives were contain… contained like that of an earthworm or a grasshopper or a cat or a dog we would have no issues - stomach full, everything fine. Because our lives are not contained or because there is no top line we can aspire for just about anything, that’s our struggle. This is an evolutionary problem, in the sense, what we are struggling with actually is our intelligence and awareness. Probably some scientists have been suggesting this that… serious I know… so called serious scientists who’ve suggested this – it’s appalling and shocking that they actually suggested this – they said, “When a child is born if we do a small brain surgery, we can take away most of the crime on the planet, everybody would be peaceful.”

Actually if you take away half the brain nobody would be unhappy, you could feed them with a tube and everybody would sit here peacefully. You won’t need any yoga, meditation, nothing, if you remove half the brain. If you take away the possibilities, the problems will go away, everybody knows that. Yes? If you keep all the possibilities open and still you are not a problem, that’s a wonderful way to be. No possibilities, no problems - that’s not life, that’s death.

So what is this solution for the human predicament because no matter what happens seems to be unfulfilled? Right now living in this town whatever aspirations you have, the moment it is fulfilled you have a next aspiration. Isn’t it so? Hmm? Hello?

Participants: Yes.

Time 48:34

Sadhguru: No matter where you are in your life, whether you are the king of this town or you are down there you want something to happen in your life. If that happens you want the next thing to happen, if that happens you want the next thing to happen. So why are you going in installments like this? Suppose I make you the king or queen of this planet - maa, don’t look at me hopefully (Laughter), will I commit such a blunder (Laughs)? Suppose we make the king… make you the king or queen of this planet, would you be fulfilled, I’m asking you? Would you be fulfilled? No, you would want the other planets and the stars and the galaxies because there is something within a human being which is not willing to settle for any boundaries. It is aspiring for a boundless possibility. If you’re seeking boundlessness, seeking it through physical means is a hopeless case. You aspiration is fantastic because if you really look at it… sitting here if you really look at it - suppose right now you become the king of this planet you were not satisfied, we made you the king of the solar system not satisfied, we made you the king of the universe not satisfied - if you really look at this what you are aspiring for is infinite nature. Your aspiration is fantastic but the means is miserable, in the sense - suppose you’re driving your car today and you saw the moon and you felt like going there. Sometimes the advertisements are so exaggerated, they told you, “If you really ff… floor the accelerator it will go to the moon.” If you try very hard you may go beyond the moon but you will not go to the moon. Yes or no? Because a car is not a suitable vehicle to go to the moon, you need another kind of vehicle to go to the moon.

Time 50:40

So similarly here, through physical means we are trying to become infinite. It’s… Aspiration is wonderful but the vehicle is miserable because the nature of physicality is like this – physical means it comes with a defined boundary. Only because there is a defined boundary we can call this a physical body. If I take away all boundaries of this, can you call this a physical body if it is everywhere? Physicality means… The fundamental nature of physicality is a defined boundary. Without a boundary there is no physical nature but right now there is something within you which is constantly aspiring to break the boundaries. Just look at yourself and see, suppose we imprisoned you in a 5x5 cubicle, you will be very miserable. Tomorrow we announce your liberation and release you into a 10x10 cubicle, it will be wonderful for a day but again you will feel miserable. Then day after tomorrow we’ll release you into a 100x100 cubicle, you will feel great for three days, again it’s the same thing. What I’m asking you is it doesn’t matter how big the boundary is, the moment you realize there is a boundary you want to break it. Yes or no? This is the nature of the human being.

It doesn’t matter all kinds of pacifist philosophies have been taught, “Be content with what you have, don’t aspire for more than what…” you know, “do not…” (Laughs) all kinds of things. It’s not worked for a single human being - it only works when you are sick or when you are dying. You are sick and down today, today if I tell you, “You should not aspire for anything, be satisfied with what you have,” you will say, “Yes, anything is okay, just get me well.” Tomorrow you are… once again the energy is back, hmm ready for something more. Yes or no?

Participants: Yes.

Sadhguru: Only when you are beaten and down, then these philosophies will work. For a… For a healthy living human being these philosophies of “Be happy with what you have”, doesn’t (don’t?) work. Now does it mean to say a human being has to be eternally in turmoil, eternally in struggle? No. What we do in terms of our aspiration is just this - essentially nothing is going to fulfill us unless we touch a boundless state. And boundlessness is not going to happen within the limitations of the physical. When I say within the limitations of the physical, right now your whole experience of life is limited to the physical. See your experience of life right now is happening because you can see, you can hear, you can smell, you can taste and you can touch. This is the only way you know that you are here, isn’t it? Yes or no? Now I don’t know whether you’re there? Hello?

Participants: Yes.

Sadhguru: Are you there?

Participants: Yes.

Time 53:54

Sadhguru: Because some of you (Gestures dozing off), if you go like this, then you don’t know whether the world exists or not, because you are still alive, the world is still on, only thing is the five sense organs - you are not able to see, hear, smell or taste, suddenly the world vanishes and you also disappear, isn’t it? This is the nature of your experience. It is through five sense organs that you are experiencing everything. These five sense organs cannot perceive anything other than physical. You can only see the physical, you can only hear the physical, you can only smell, taste and touch the physical. That which is not physical is not within the ambit of these five sense organs. So if you do not transcend the five senses, there is no possibility of experiencing anything beyond physicality.

If you do not experience anything beyond physicality, this longing of wanting to be something more, something more endlessly going on – you are not looking for more, you are looking for all and all is not possible through physical means.