It is said that soon after his enlightenment the Buddha passed a man on the road who was struck by the Buddha's extraordinary radiance and peaceful presence. The man stopped and asked, "My friend, what are you? Are you a celestial being or a god?" "No," said the Buddha. "Well, then, are you some kind of magician or wizard?" Again the Buddha answered, "No." "Are you a man?" "No." "Well, my friend, then what are you?" The Buddha replied, "I am awake."
Q: What principles should we live by?
Sadhguru: Drop the principles. All principles are a substitute for a lack of consciousness. If you were aware, you would live life as it is necessary to be lived now. If awareness is missing, you are trying to replace it with morals and ethics. If your humanity is on full swing you wouldn’t need morality. Only because there are so many ways we suppress our humanity, you need morality to be good.
Q: What as individuals are our responsibilities?
Sadhguru: What do you mean by responsibilities?
Q: The duties we have towards our family, our coworkers.
Sadhguru: What a horrible way to live your life! If you had a little love in your heart, then these words - principle, morality, responsibility - would not be necessary. All this nonsense is because we have lost the love we have for humanity.
...
Q: You have given speeches at the WEF and TIECON. If it so difficult to communicate to people in groups, what do you hope to achieve?
Sadhguru: Even if you talk to 10 or 1000 people, the person who is listening is an individual. What you are trying to communicate is that there is a need to make a journey - it is not the journey itself. It is not possible to begin the process in an uncommitted, casual atmosphere. We just use that environment to inspire and above all to make them see that they can learn from themselves; that there is a way to live in a far better way than they are right now. So it is just mostly inspirational. We never print or publish any of these talks.
...
Q: How do you feel about the many layers between you and the people you are trying to reach? Now that the organization has grown to such an extent do you feel you are still effective?
Sadhguru: I had kept it very curtailed, I had not allowed it to grow because I didn’t want a huge organization around me. I always wanted it to be a small band of people who can do this. But now I have allowed it to grow because I found them effective. Definitely in South India we have a big impact. People in small ways have found better ways of living, more harmony in their lives, in their families, in their society. Recently, a minister went to a taluk where we have been working for some time. A group of people gathered. The minister asked, "Tell me what are your problems." They replied, "We have no problems!" The minister couldn’t believe it. Normally when a minister visits there are always petitions and problems and complaints. 70% of the population of the village was doing yoga. The minister got so rattled he sent a bunch of people to investigate this 'yoga'! What we are doing is just a drop. The problems are so enormous, whatever we do is just a tiny drop. I wish much more could happen.
Q: ISHA foundation does a lot of grassroots work. Which gives you more satisfaction - the discourses you give or the outreach initiatives done by your organization?
Sadhguru: Nothing gives me satisfaction because I am not looking for any satisfaction. I am not a missionary with some kind of zeal. I do things because I think they need to be done. I just reach out that way. It is not in search of achievement or happiness, it is just simple humanity that you reach out and do things while there is still life in you. It is just the action of a concerned human being.
- Interview with Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev
