Sadhguru answers a question about cancer and chemotherapy, and how we can take the fight out of it. He looks at how there is a difference between fighting against and fighting for something.

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"Cancer – A Yogic Perspective" gives Sadhguru’s insights on the various causes of cancer and what can be done to go beyond the disease. The book also includes several methods and practices from the yogic system to help one lead a healthy and joyful life.

Full Transcript:

Sadhguru: So coming to the doctor’s statement, it all depends on how you take it. Yes, it all depends on how you take it. ‘Should I fight it?’ How can you fight an enemy that you cannot see? And cancer is not somebody. You are the cancer. A part of you has turned against yourself. You can't fight it. ‘So what should I do?’ It is just that every human being… largely every human being always in some way is working against himself or herself. If you created a moment of anger, you are working against yourself, isn't it? Today there is medical proof to show you - when you are angry, your whole chemistry is working against yourself. There is substantial medical proof. It doesn’t need medical proof, one should know by experience but if you are so insensitive, today we will show you blood results.

So if you are miserable, you are working against yourself. So in some way everybody has some kind of cancer. Only when it manifests physiologically, it becomes a medical issue; till then it's your problem. Yes? Till then it's just your problem. When it physiologically manifests, it becomes a medical issue. Now that it’s physiologically manifested - for variety of reasons, not for one particular reason, there are variety of reasons – fighting is not the way. Fighting the cancer not the way. Fighting for something and fighting against something are two different things, isn't it? And anyway it's best to take the fight out of it. If you want a plant to grow and blossom into beautiful fragrant flowers, you may think you are fighting the earth and getting flowers out of it or you may see it as a great love affair, that your involvement with the earth gives out such beauty and fragrance for you. The second is a more intelligent way of doing it because your experience of doing it will be pleasant; the result, whatever it comes, will be pleasant. It may flower or the cow may eat it up, you don't know, but whichever way, if your experience of what you’re doing is very pleasant, the result will become irrelevant to you.

‘So does it not matter whether I live or die?’ It matters, that is why you must do it the way it works. If it matters, it's very important that you do it the way it works. Just because you are a brave man you will fight and you will die, that’s no use… that’s of no use to anybody and that’s not of no consequence to your life. You did the right things, maybe you had it your way or maybe you did not have it your way but at least you did the right things, that is most important. So when death stares at you, it's a greatest possibility, I think already we have handled that, because it's reminding you that you’re mortal, which is not a simple thing. Most people have forgotten that they are mortal; they think it only happens to somebody else. Yes or no? Most people think death happens only to somebody else, not to them. No, no, it's going to happen to you and me. How it happens is different but it's going to happen to you and me.

So about how to deal with the cancer, I don’t want to go into that now. If you come we can help you but first go through the allopathic treatment. It's a most aggressive and invasive treatment but it's best to go through that rather than taking chances. But after that has happened, recovering from the treatment is a big challenge. There, there are many, many things that can do in the yogic system it can be done but cancer itself it can be done but the risk levels are so high and the time allowed is so little, so we wouldn’t usually take a chance with that. It's best to go through the treatment and then do other things so that recurrence doesn’t happen.