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Lewis HowesEVERYTHING You've Been Taught About Manifesting Abundance IS WRONG! | Sadhguru & Lewis Howes
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EVERY SPOKEN WORD
125 min read · 25,104 words- 0:00 – 5:40
Karma as Memory, Not Fear or Guilt
- SASadhguru
It's not about whether I have fear or not. I made myself like this. Only what I want happens within me. What I want may not always happen around me, but within me, only what I want happens.
- LHLewis Howes
I think you gotta have a dream. The School of Greatness. Really? [laughs] Please welcome Lewis Howes. Coming from the Midwest in Ohio, I grew up hearing the word karma, saying that if you do something bad-
- SASadhguru
[laughs]
- LHLewis Howes
... then bad things are coming for you. And you talk about in the book that it, it, not necessarily that case. Can you define karma for the uneducated person like myself on what karma truly is?
- SASadhguru
I thought that was my title. [laughs]
- LHLewis Howes
[laughs]
- SASadhguru
You're stealing that from me. [laughs] Uneducated guru is what people say, and now you're saying you're uneducated, uh-
- LHLewis Howes
Human. [laughs]
- SASadhguru
... interviewer. [laughs] Anyway, about, uh, if you do bad things, bad things will come for you, this has been the way of the world. You don't need the word karma for that, because people have been trying to control people-
- LHLewis Howes
Mm
- SASadhguru
... either with fear or guilt. This has been the basis of a whole lot of things happening in the world. If you do this, you will go to hell. If you do that, you will go to heaven, otherwise here itself it will happen to you, whatever, or there is somebody up there with a stick waiting, and they will whack you.
- LHLewis Howes
[laughs]
- SASadhguru
Uh, all these kind of things. Essentially, you're trying to manage humanity, control humanity with, uh, fear or guilt.
- LHLewis Howes
Yeah.
- SASadhguru
Fear and guilt, I see particularly in the Western world, is, like, enormous. It is in the psyche of people in such a big way. Well, karma is not about fear. Karma is not about guilt. Karma is about liberation. It is about freedom. Because you're a composite as you sit here. You're a composite of various memories within you.
- LHLewis Howes
Yes.
- SASadhguru
It goes back, it goes way back, but let's start with amoeba in recent times.
- LHLewis Howes
Okay.
- SASadhguru
From amoeba to now, the whole evolutionary process in some way is recorded in this body, otherwise this body would be confused every other day whether this is human or not. This is 100% clear that this is human. This is evolutionary memory, always there.
- LHLewis Howes
Mm-hmm.
- SASadhguru
There is genetic memory. There is karmic memory. There is articulate, inarticulate, uh, you know, unconscious, subconscious, and conscious memories. Right now when we say memory, people think only of their conscious memory, which is less than 1% of their actual memory.
- LHLewis Howes
So the things they actually remember in their mind, the conscious memory?
- SASadhguru
Yes. That is less than 1% of the actual memory. See, for example, I can give you a thousand examples like this which are manifesting in everybody's life. The simple thing is this. Uh, let's say 500 years ago, how your great-great-great-grandfather was, you don't remember for sure.
- LHLewis Howes
No.
- SASadhguru
But his nose is sitting on your face probably.
- LHLewis Howes
Right. My ears are his ears. Yeah.
- SASadhguru
Yeah. Many things.
- LHLewis Howes
Yeah.
- SASadhguru
Even the color of the skin and the texture of the skin, everything.
- LHLewis Howes
Cool.
- 5:40 – 11:16
Turning Waste into Manure: Choice, Cellular Memory and Mind
- SASadhguru
You don't have to eliminate the waste. Waste is very valuable.
- LHLewis Howes
Oh.
- SASadhguru
If you know right now in this garden, they buy waste at a very enor- you know, a very exorbitant price-
- LHLewis Howes
Mm-hmm
- SASadhguru
... because their waste goes into the public system. They have to buy waste from somewhere.
- LHLewis Howes
[laughs]
- SASadhguru
They have to buy filth.
- LHLewis Howes
To fertilize.
- SASadhguru
Yes.
- LHLewis Howes
Yeah.
- SASadhguru
So whether you turn your filth into a fertilizer- Or you smear it on, on your face and walk around, that's your choice.
- LHLewis Howes
Mm.
- SASadhguru
This is why karma. So what kind of karma happened in my life till this moment is not always my choice. So many things have happened, but what kind of karma I perform right now in this moment is 100% my choice.
- LHLewis Howes
Mm-hmm.
- SASadhguru
Will I use this filth as manure and blossom into a wonderful fragrance, or will I smear it around me and walk around with filth?
- LHLewis Howes
Yeah.
- SASadhguru
This is the choice everybody has. When unpleasant things happen to us, which happens to everybody in some way if you're living in the world, I'm saying.
- LHLewis Howes
Mm-hmm.
- SASadhguru
Unless you dropped from somewhere else.
- LHLewis Howes
Right.
- SASadhguru
If you're living in this world, so many unpleasant things happen. Now, with these unpleasant things, do you become wise or do you become wounded? This is a choice.
- LHLewis Howes
Mm.
- SASadhguru
To exercise this choice, there must be a little space. When I say a little space, where is your memory stored? People think here. Your brain has very little memory.
- LHLewis Howes
[laughs]
- SASadhguru
Okay? Every cell in the body carries a trillion times more memory than your entire brain. It's-
- LHLewis Howes
Every cell in the body
- SASadhguru
... every cell in the body. Because if I take one cell from you, we can, uh, you know, create you completely-
- LHLewis Howes
Oh
- SASadhguru
... in a lab. That means what? Well, your parents, your father and mother, gave you only one cell each. They were not very generous.
- LHLewis Howes
[laughs]
- 11:16 – 16:54
Education, Unhappiness and Where Experience Comes From
- SASadhguru
With all this education, tell me, uneducated people are more unhappy or educated people are more unhappy-
- LHLewis Howes
[sighs]
- SASadhguru
... in the world?
- LHLewis Howes
It depends what type of education.
- SASadhguru
No, generally illiterate people in the rest of the world, tribes and this and that, even in India, many, many people.
- LHLewis Howes
I, uh, whenever I visit, um, I go to Guatemala almost every year and I visit small villages, and the kids seem so happy.
- SASadhguru
Yeah.
- LHLewis Howes
Seem so happy.
- SASadhguru
Because they didn't go to school like me.
- LHLewis Howes
[laughs]
- SASadhguru
[laughs]
- LHLewis Howes
They don't have much, but they have family, they have community, they-
- SASadhguru
What do you mean they don't have much?
- LHLewis Howes
I mean, they don't have much in terms of the material world.
- SASadhguru
They are not environmentally disastrous, that's what you're saying.
- LHLewis Howes
Right. Right. Exactly, yeah. They don't have a lot in the material side of things, but they have a lot in their hearts, richness, connection, community, love, and they seem very happy.
- SASadhguru
Uneducated people or illiterate people are happier than the educated people. With education, your life should have become better, isn't it?
- LHLewis Howes
Mm-hmm.
- SASadhguru
Unfortunately, they're becoming unhappy simply because they only have sharpened their knife.
- LHLewis Howes
Mm.
- SASadhguru
And a sharp knife in your hand and you're unconscious, you're cutting yourself all the time. All the time cutting yourself.
- LHLewis Howes
That's painful.
- SASadhguru
You don't need any outside help.
- LHLewis Howes
[laughs] You can stab yourself.
- SASadhguru
Yes. See, people come to me and say, "Sadhguru, my boss is horrible. My mother-in-law, she's not even human. My wife-
- LHLewis Howes
[laughs]
- SASadhguru
... she's such a pain. My husband like this." I say, "You come here to the yoga center. I'll make sure your boss, mother-in-law, wife, husband, nobody enters this place, just you. I'll give you a nice place to live, good food to eat. Nothing to do. Just be happy, that's all."
- LHLewis Howes
Yeah.
- SASadhguru
You must be just joyful. I'll make random checks on you. If I find you unhappy or miserable, then I won't feed you because I don't believe in feeding misery.
- LHLewis Howes
[laughs] Hmm.
- 16:54 – 29:17
Limited Identity as the Root of Crime
- SASadhguru
See, uh, I see in America everybody keeps talking about family, family, family. But you've forgotten just as a, maybe a century ago? Yeah. Maybe a century ago or even 70 years ago or 50 years ago, if you said family, it meant crime.
- LHLewis Howes
Why?
- SASadhguru
Because the families were running the crime, you know?
- LHLewis Howes
Oh, wow.
- SASadhguru
The Cosa Nostra or other-
- LHLewis Howes
Family crime, got you. Yeah.
- SASadhguru
They, they always refer to crime as family.
- LHLewis Howes
Mm.
- SASadhguru
Because family is a crime.
- LHLewis Howes
Really?
- SASadhguru
[laughs] Let me come to that.
- LHLewis Howes
[laughs]
- SASadhguru
I know this will get me into trouble. Let, let me come to that.
- LHLewis Howes
Explain it to me.
- SASadhguru
See, there is only one crime and there's only one evil in the world, that is limited identity. De- how much crime you will commit simply depends on how empowered you are.
- LHLewis Howes
Say it one more time. How much crime you...?
- SASadhguru
Commit simply depends on how empowered you are.
- LHLewis Howes
How empowered you are.
- SASadhguru
Yeah, yeah.
- LHLewis Howes
So do I wanna be-
- SASadhguru
If you are, if you are highly empowered and your l- identity is very limited, you will do terrible things. So the most important thing is to enhance or to expand one's identity.
- LHLewis Howes
How do we do that?
- SASadhguru
See, for example, i- traditionally in the yogic culture in India- Before we start education for a child, the first and foremost thing is that he must take a cosmic identity
- LHLewis Howes
A cosmic identity.
- SASadhguru
Yes, he has to take that
- LHLewis Howes
What does... What does that, what does that look like? So if I'm a child-
- SASadhguru
Yes
- LHLewis Howes
... and, and you're teaching me this
- SASadhguru
So the thing is, one thing is there is a, a mantra which says that, that he has to say it again and again. He has to look at the sky and say it. He look at the Earth and say it, look at the air and say it, look at the fire and say it. All the elements, of water and say it.
- LHLewis Howes
Mm-hmm
- 29:17 – 36:28
Raising Children and Loosening Borders
- LHLewis Howes
If there are some parents watching or listening, and they're like, "Wow, this is very eye-opening. I've never thought of it this way." They've always raised their kids a certain way. Their kids are between-
- SASadhguru
See, th- this word, this is a word that I hear very often in United States. We don't hear this in India.
- LHLewis Howes
[laughs]
- SASadhguru
"I was raised this way."
- LHLewis Howes
Yeah.
- SASadhguru
People say, "I was raised Catholic," "I was raised Jewish," "I was raised Baptist," "I was raised this way." See, you don't raise human beings, you only raise cattle.
- LHLewis Howes
[laughs] Right. Right.
- SASadhguru
A human being is a possibility that needs to be nurtured-
- LHLewis Howes
Mm
- SASadhguru
... not raised-
- LHLewis Howes
Yeah
- SASadhguru
... in a particular way. So, you are raising people in a certain way because you're already committed to something that you think is absolute.
- LHLewis Howes
Wow.
- SASadhguru
Nothing is absolute. Life is a possibility.
- LHLewis Howes
Mm.
- SASadhguru
Will you allow your children to explore that possibility, or do you want to make them like concrete blocks, that they come out in a particular shape, raised in a certain way? No, this is not the way to handle humanity
- LHLewis Howes
So, say these parents are hearing this and they wanna nurture their children in a different way
- SASadhguru
Yes, the first thing they must do is
- LHLewis Howes
But they've been taught something their whole lives
- SASadhguru
Uh, they can do their prayers as they know it, but let them know that it's not absolute.
- LHLewis Howes
Mm-hmm.
- SASadhguru
They can sing their national anthem with pride, wonderful. Let them know it's not absolute.
- LHLewis Howes
Mm.
- SASadhguru
Let them also teach them a two lines of global anthem, if not cosmic anthem. One global anthem which includes every life's wellbeing.
- LHLewis Howes
Mm.
- SASadhguru
Every child should sing this in every school.
- LHLewis Howes
A global anthem?
- SASadhguru
Yes, we need to m- make a global anthem.
- LHLewis Howes
Yeah.
- SASadhguru
I'm singing Indian anthem with great, uh, fervor-
- 36:28 – 50:47
Standing Above Karma and the Space Between You and Your Mind
- LHLewis Howes
So where does karma fit in-
- SASadhguru
[laughs]
- LHLewis Howes
... a- around people that are acting to harm or to not support someone else's wellbeing or the things around them? How does karma fit in?
- SASadhguru
See, all your identity is only from your memory, isn't it? How are you an American? You remember-
- LHLewis Howes
Mm
- SASadhguru
... that you were born in America.
- LHLewis Howes
Yes.
- SASadhguru
Suppose I erase your memory. Are you American?
- LHLewis Howes
Suppose what? Sorry.
- SASadhguru
I erase your memory.
- LHLewis Howes
Oh. Am I an American?
- SASadhguru
Yeah.
- LHLewis Howes
I don't know.
- SASadhguru
No. So how does your family identity come? How do your racial identity come? Everything is by memory, isn't it?
- LHLewis Howes
Yeah, yeah.
- SASadhguru
Now, karma means this accumulated massive amount of memory. Now, will you stand above that? Is... This is a stage for our life. This karmic background is like a platform. If you create s-
- LHLewis Howes
[clears throat]
- SASadhguru
... enough surface tension in this, you can stand on it and do your fresh act today. But if your feet sink into it like quicksands, then you are just a victim of your memory. Right now, the person that you think is a racist is a victim of his memory.
- LHLewis Howes
Right.
- SASadhguru
The person that you think is a terrorist is a victim of his memory.
- LHLewis Howes
Mm-hmm.
- SASadhguru
The person who is a suicide bomber is a victim of his memory, because he remembers what has been taught to him, all right? If he loses his memory, he's a fine guy.
- LHLewis Howes
Right. [laughs] Right, right.
- SASadhguru
[laughs] Yes. So right now you don't have to lose your memory. Where is your memory? Your memory is in your body and what you call as your mind, which is all one.
- LHLewis Howes
Yes.
- SASadhguru
All right? This is hardware, that is software. [laughs]
- LHLewis Howes
Sure, sure.
- SASadhguru
So this software, you wrote it unconsciously through various incidents, experiences, your own perception according to your intelligence. You wrote your own kind of software unconsciously. It's written by you, but unconsciously. There have been cases where people have sleepwalked and committed-
- LHLewis Howes
[clears throat]
- SASadhguru
... a murder. Even the judiciary thinks that is not worth punishing. They don't punish them, even though they committed murder sleepwalking. As far as the act is concerned, somebody died. They lost their life. Not a small thing, but this man was sleeping. So that man doesn't get punishment because he was sleepwalking, all right?
- 50:47 – 57:36
Love, Joy and Not Depending on Others for Inner Experience
- LHLewis Howes
Why is it so hard for people to feel that type of love, that unity love, the conscious love, in a relationship, an intimate relationship?
- SASadhguru
See, this is because they're interested in the fruit, not in the root.
- LHLewis Howes
The fruit, not the root.
- SASadhguru
Yes.
- LHLewis Howes
What's the root?
- SASadhguru
See, right now you want to experience love, so what will we do? Like, uh, people are going about chanting this mantra, "I love you, you love me. You love me, I love you," throughout the day because you know if you don't say it for two days, it may go away.
- LHLewis Howes
Mm.
- SASadhguru
Love does not happen because you say it. Love does not happen because you're attracted to somebody. Yes, you may feel it at certain moments. When you like something, you may also begin to love it, all right? Essentially, love means sweetness of your emotions.
- LHLewis Howes
Sweetness of your emotions.
- SASadhguru
Yes. When you have very sweet emotions, that's called love, isn't it?
- LHLewis Howes
Uh-huh.
- SASadhguru
If I have nasty emotions, that's called hate.
- LHLewis Howes
That's right.
- SASadhguru
That's called whatever. So sweetness of your emotion, why is it that you have tied it to something that you like to eat? I love ice cream. I love this man or woman. I love this. I love that. I love car. I love Ford. I love Chevy. You know, people are talking this-
- LHLewis Howes
Yeah
- SASadhguru
... everywhere, all right. [laughs] So, or I love God. That's the safest thing to do.
- LHLewis Howes
Mm-hmm.
- SASadhguru
[laughs] Because you can always claim God loves you.
- LHLewis Howes
Mm.
- SASadhguru
But if you claim this person loves me, tomorrow the guy, when it goes away, you can't say anything.
- LHLewis Howes
Mm.
- SASadhguru
But, uh, this is the safe thing to do, all right? The, people have found various ways. I am not saying there's anything wrong with that. It's okay. You use whatever means you want to feel the sweetness of your emotion, but you must understand it's the sweetness of your emotion. I'm asking you what happens within you, why is it determined by somebody else? What happens-
- LHLewis Howes
Mm
- SASadhguru
... within you if it's determined by somebody else? This is the worst form of slavery, isn't it?
- LHLewis Howes
When love is determined by someone else.
- SASadhguru
Not only love, your happiness, your joy-
- LHLewis Howes
Mm-hmm
- SASadhguru
... your peacefulness, your love, anything that happens within you. When your inner experience is determined by something or somebody-
- LHLewis Howes
Mm
- SASadhguru
... that is the worst form of slavery.
- 57:36 – 1:09:32
Rethinking Abundance as Fulfillment of Life
- LHLewis Howes
For the people watching or listening who might be saying, "You know what? I've struggled in my relationships. I, I don't have financial abundance. I'm struggling financially. I'm out of shape, struggling in my, my health and wellness," and they're wondering how they can use karma, in a sense, to support them to create more abundance, financial abundance, spiritual abundance, relationship abundance, health and wellbeing. Or maybe they've been thinking, "Well, maybe, uh, karma's been against me," in that, that way of thinking. How can they start to think differently to, to apply these principles?
- SASadhguru
See, you're setting up all the wrong goals.
- LHLewis Howes
[laughs] What should the goals be?
- SASadhguru
Simply this. See right now, if you, instead of philosophizing, reading scriptures, reading self-help books, all this, just pay attention to the trees around here.
- LHLewis Howes
Mm-hmm.
- SASadhguru
What are they doing?
- LHLewis Howes
Being.
- SASadhguru
Be- no, no, no, no, no. They have no capability to be. [laughs] They're not called beings. Only you called being. Human being you are.
- LHLewis Howes
Mm-hmm.
- SASadhguru
They are not. That's just a tree. It's a wonderful tree. What is it doing? Beneath the ground, it's fighting. All right?
- LHLewis Howes
Mm.
- SASadhguru
What is it fighting for? Is this maple tree trying to produce apples?
- LHLewis Howes
No.
- SASadhguru
No. It is just trying to be the best possible maple tree it can be. It is not trying to produce apples.
- LHLewis Howes
Mm.
- SASadhguru
Definitely I don't see any coconuts up there.
- LHLewis Howes
[laughs]
- SASadhguru
All right?
- LHLewis Howes
Right.
- SASadhguru
This is all. As a human being, you must see how this life can blossom into its fullest.
- LHLewis Howes
Mm.
- SASadhguru
If it blossom to its fullest, somebody may become rich with money, or somebody may become intelligent, somebody may become knowledgeable, somebody may become loving, somebody may become an artist, somebody may just wander. But a fully blossomed human being is a joy to see, no matter what the hell they're doing-
- LHLewis Howes
Mm
- SASadhguru
... or what they're not doing.
- LHLewis Howes
Mm-hmm.
- SASadhguru
Whichever way, they're an asset to whole humanity.
- LHLewis Howes
Mm.
- SASadhguru
Instead of doing that, you want, for example, you said abundance in, uh, economic terms.
- LHLewis Howes
Mm-hmm.
- SASadhguru
What is your idea of abundance in economic terms? Jeff Bezos, is it?
- 1:09:32 – 1:16:29
Ease, Personal Fear and Being in the Moment
- LHLewis Howes
Do you have any personal fears?
- SASadhguru
What do you mean by that?
- LHLewis Howes
Do you have any fears of anything in your life?
- SASadhguru
[laughs] No.
- LHLewis Howes
Are you afraid? Do you remember the last time you had fear? How old were you were?
- SASadhguru
I know fear only from other people's experiences. See, it's not about whether I have fear or not. I made myself like this.
- LHLewis Howes
[laughs]
- SASadhguru
Only what I want happens within me. What I want may not always happen around me.
- LHLewis Howes
Mm.
- SASadhguru
But within me, only what I want happens.
- LHLewis Howes
Mm.
- SASadhguru
Because this is my space. It must happen my way. Why should it happen your way or somebody else's way? The same goes for you, isn't it?
- LHLewis Howes
Yeah.
- SASadhguru
What is within you must happen 100% your way, no other way.
- LHLewis Howes
When you see chaos around you, in whatever way that might be, s- someone-
- SASadhguru
Oh, I'm seeing it all the time. [laughs]
- LHLewis Howes
How does your... What's your initial response inside to whatever, someone screaming at you, or something unjust, or some pain happening around you? Or whether it's attacking you or not, how do you internally respond, or what do you say, or what's your come from in that moment to stay grounded, to stay peaceful, joyful, in a moment of pain?
- SASadhguru
I will act as it's needed.
- LHLewis Howes
Mm.
- SASadhguru
[laughs] That's all.
- LHLewis Howes
Yeah.
- SASadhguru
I will not do anything other than that. If it needs action, I'll perform that action. If it's not necessary-
- LHLewis Howes
Yeah
- SASadhguru
... I'll walk away from that.
- LHLewis Howes
Right.
- SASadhguru
It depends what kind of situation it is.
- LHLewis Howes
Yeah.
- SASadhguru
And I'm facing such things all the time.
- LHLewis Howes
Yeah. [laughs]
- SASadhguru
You know? All the time.
- 1:16:29 – 1:23:08
Closing Thoughts, Conscious Planet and the Three Truths
- LHLewis Howes
Got many more questions, but I wanna finish with two final questions, uh, before-
- SASadhguru
Two is not considered final. Only when you come to one you say it's final.
- LHLewis Howes
Two additional questions.
- SASadhguru
[laughs]
- LHLewis Howes
[laughs] Uh, before I ask those questions, uh, very grateful for your time. Thank you for, for showing up the way you do, and for educating an uneducated human being on all these things. I appreciate it.
- SASadhguru
Ah, you're grabbing the title from me, huh? [laughs]
- LHLewis Howes
[laughs] This book is really inspiring. Uh, you shared some of these things, uh, that we talked about today that are in the book, in the first chapter I re- uh, I read. A lot of these concepts I heard here. I know there's a lot more to go into, so make sure you guys get the book. Very inspiring. I recommend you get three to five copies. Give them to friends if you want your friends to also have expanded identities and not be limited in their thinking. So get Karma, A Yogi’s Guide to Crafting Your Destiny. Extremely inspiring. Also check out InnerEngineering.com for more. Lots of courses, books, programs, everything there. I'm gonna have to come to Tennessee someday-
- SASadhguru
You should come
- LHLewis Howes
... and check it out. So I wanna go there and-
- SASadhguru
Don't come there to check it out. It's already well checked out by me.
- LHLewis Howes
[laughs] Come there to experience it.
- SASadhguru
Come there to make use of it.
- LHLewis Howes
To express my joy, yes.
- SASadhguru
Come there to experience and make use of it.
- LHLewis Howes
I will use it. [laughs]
- SASadhguru
[laughs]
- LHLewis Howes
I will use it.
- SASadhguru
Checking out, I have done all the checking out and-
- LHLewis Howes
[laughs]
- SASadhguru
... saw that all the problems are removed.
- LHLewis Howes
It's all working, yeah.
- SASadhguru
[laughs]
- LHLewis Howes
It's all working. Uh, well, I wanna acknowledge you. Before I ask these two qua- final questions or two additional questions, I wanna acknowledge you for being on a journey with all of us. I think the fact that you, uh, have learned so much and you want to show up every day and teach, and you wanna show up and create content, and offer solutions through whatever means necessary, whether it's books, courses, videos, TikTok, things you're not even a part of that you're aware that are impacting the world, I'm just a- appreciative and acknowledge your showing up.
- SASadhguru
No, all this effort is to, uh... Because I want to live in a, a joyful-
- LHLewis Howes
Yeah
- SASadhguru
... loving, exuberant world.
- LHLewis Howes
Yeah.
- SASadhguru
So I'm just trying to set the atmosphere for myself.
- LHLewis Howes
Of course, yeah.
- SASadhguru
All right? So this is not a service. This is not a mission. This is just a simple like a dog comes, if it wants to sit down-
- 1:23:08 – 1:28:29
Second Interview: Taking Individual Existence Too Seriously and Death
- LHLewis Howes
as you know, get caught up in a lot of things that aren't their true nature. And why is that? Why is that, do you think, that we forget how to play and think like a child when we grow up?
- SASadhguru
See, uh, people have forgotten that in this vast cosmos where we don't know where is the beginning, where is the end, in the middle of nowhere on a tiny little mud ball called Earth, you and me are sitting long distance and talking right now, okay? [laughs] So, and f- for the kind of creatures we are, we are not even a speck of dust in this universe, but we have an individual experience. This is the magnanimity of creation, that it's given us an individual experience. Though we are nothing, tomorrow if the whole humanity evaporates, nobody will miss us in this cosmos. That's how small we are. But we have an individual experience. So this individual experience, human beings have taken it rather too seriously, as if they are the beginning and the end of the world.
- LHLewis Howes
The center of the world.
- SASadhguru
And, uh-
- LHLewis Howes
Yeah
- SASadhguru
... yes, they thought they're the center of the universe. [laughs] So this misunderstanding makes them believe as they grow up or as they degenerate, I would say, they don't really grow up, because at the age of five if you're so joyful and energetic, by the time you are 30, you should be ecstatic and bursting. But [laughs] if the reverse has happened, this is degeneration of life. So this degeneration happens because people take their individual existence rather too seriously. They don't understand before you and me came here, countless number of people who thought they were smart and they were strong and they were beautiful and they were wonderful, they are all topsoil now, countless number of people. And you and me also will be one day, unless our friends to... our friends choose to bury us really deep, fearing that we may raise from the dead or something. [laughs]
- LHLewis Howes
[laughs]
- SASadhguru
So we have taken our individual existence too seriously. Because of this, life has taken a backseat. Our physical structure has taken front seat, our psychological structures have, you know, gone to the stratosphere. But the life that we are is somewhere which is not even in most people's experience. So this is the whole problem. When you are a child, you are just a piece of life. Slowly you took your personality so seriously, you took your boundaries of your form so seriously, that you think this is it. So till death knocks on their door, they don't realize that this is not it. [laughs]
- LHLewis Howes
And, and, you know, I've, I've learned that in some cultures they focus on death multiple times a day to bring them back to that moment of, "This is the only time we have. Make the most of this moment. Don't take things too seriously." Do you focus on death a lot throughout your days, or is that not something you think about?
- SASadhguru
I live death all the time. [laughs]
- LHLewis Howes
You're on a motorcycle. [laughs]
- SASadhguru
Not just that, motorcycle I live. [laughs]
- LHLewis Howes
Yeah.
- SASadhguru
Just now, if you do not know this, I just released a book on death.
- LHLewis Howes
Really?
- SASadhguru
Do, do you know this? Yeah, it's a bestseller in India right now.
- LHLewis Howes
Wow.
- SASadhguru
So... [laughs]
- LHLewis Howes
Is it here in the USA yet? I gotta get a copy.
- SASadhguru
We will send you a copy, but it's not released in USA. It's only released in by Penguin India. Because USA we're releasing another book, so this has been stalled. Uh, in US we're releasing-
- LHLewis Howes
Yeah, yeah
- SASadhguru
... a book on karma. [laughs] It's called-
- LHLewis Howes
Perfect, I need both. [laughs]
- SASadhguru
[laughs] So the book is about, uh, it is only for those who shall die. That's how it is titled, Death: A Book for Only Those Who Shall Die. Because most people think other people die.
- LHLewis Howes
Mm.
- SASadhguru
[laughs] They don't realize we die. [laughs]
- LHLewis Howes
Right.
- SASadhguru
They do not... See, death essentially means it reminds us that we have a limited amount of time and energy to live. Nobody has unlimited time or unlimited energy. If one is constantly conscious of this, definitely they will organize their life, and they'll prioritize their life in much better way than the way they're doing it right now. This is a fundamental. Death does not mean something else, not some terrible thing. Uh, death simply means it is clearly reminding you you have a limited lease of time and energy. That means you need to organize your time and energy to what is most valuable for you, not do one more thing that is not necessary for yourself or anybody around you. And because people think they're forever, they're in some restlessness all the time. I think they just put up a poem [laughs] which I wrote three, four days ago. It's called Life. "The most restless ones rest so well when life is taken out of them, as if the only curse was life."
- LHLewis Howes
What does that mean, to rest so well? You mean sleep so well, or live so well that you feel restful?
- SASadhguru
Oh, even in sleep, they're rolling all over the place, huh. [laughs]
- 1:28:29 – 1:49:04
Rest, Perception, Mistakes and Suffering
- LHLewis Howes
So how do we get to a restful p- uh, place? Is it, is it more about our thoughts? Is it more about our, our heart, our soul, our karma, our, our physical body? What's the place to start for rest?
- SASadhguru
See, uh, right now people... Generally people's understanding is rest means sleep. Wakefulness means something is happening. No, you have to make your wakefulness also restful. It is just like if you, uh, if you have an automobile who's running at a very high RPM all the time, it'll naturally wear itself out. So it's important that you run cool. So if you run at a... running at a easy pace, your efficiency will go up, your ability to do things will go up, your competence will go up, and everything. Above all, the number of hours that you sleep will go down dramatically. See, uh, for most people who are practicing Inner Engineering practices, their pulse rate is somewhere between 45 to 65.
- LHLewis Howes
Really?
- SASadhguru
Many of them... Yes, yes, many of them below 45, between 35 to 45, also in sitting states, in restful states. So once your, uh, system is going at such an ease, then the need for rest will come down. There was a time, not anymore I'm [laughs] becoming little old and lazy these days. So [laughs] there was a time, three days and three nights if I don't sleep, I will still be perfectly normal. Still doing all my activity. Whole night I will drive. Next day, whole day I will teach. Whole night I will drive, and again I will teach. Like this. Uh, these days I can do one night. Next day I will need to rest a little bit. [laughs]
- LHLewis Howes
Right, right. You take naps throughout the day now.
- SASadhguru
For-
- LHLewis Howes
Yeah
- SASadhguru
No, no, no. [laughs] No naps.
- LHLewis Howes
I'm joking.
- SASadhguru
[laughs]
- LHLewis Howes
I'm joking. [laughs]
- SASadhguru
For almost 25 years, more than 25 years, my average sleep time was only two and a half hours.
- LHLewis Howes
Wow.
- SASadhguru
Today I am sleeping between three and a half to four and a half hours.
- LHLewis Howes
You're getting lazy.
- SASadhguru
You're getting lazy. [laughs]
- LHLewis Howes
[laughs] Wow. Yeah, I think I did a five-mile run yesterday and my average heart rate was over 165. So I wonder if I can-
- SASadhguru
Whoa
- LHLewis Howes
... I wonder if I can do... Now I'm pushing it pretty hard on my run, so I wonder is there a way to work out hard and keep the heart rate lower than normal still, even while you're pushing and pumping so much blood?
- SASadhguru
Uh, the important thing is, see how you... easily oxygen and nutrients are distributed to the cellular level. That will determine. See, this has not been... Generally they are not thinking on these lines. They are always thinking about increasing the lung capacity. Yes, that is also important, but the important thing is with how much ease the nutrients and oxygen get to the cellular level, accordingly your pulmonary system will function. But it's not only about the heart rate. Even at the cellular level, with how much, uh, t- stress or how much ease it's going, this can be determined. We have, uh, what is called as a cobra test for people. Would you like to go through cobra test? [laughs]
- LHLewis Howes
Uh, [laughs] you mean getting bit by a cobra? [laughs]
- SASadhguru
No, no, no. If it doesn't bite you, then it proves something. See, most of the venomous creatures are like this, particularly cobras. In the wild, if you just go and pick up a cobra like that, he will simply come, not holding his head or anything. Simply in the middle of the body. Simply he will come effortlessly in your hands without any reaction, because he is only sensing your chemistry.
- LHLewis Howes
Hmm.
- SASadhguru
If you show little anxiety, if you show even a little bit of anxiety, he will go for you. If you don't show any, he's very comfortable with you because he senses everything, his safety and his danger, only by the chemistry of your body. So, uh, this is a cobra test. People say, uh, claim they are very meditative. We say, "Okay, let's do the cobra test."
- LHLewis Howes
[laughs]
- SASadhguru
[laughs]
- LHLewis Howes
Yeah, that's a, that's a... Do you do that test with people? [laughs]
- SASadhguru
[laughs] We can check you out. 165. [laughs]
- LHLewis Howes
I love your, uh, [laughs] uh, I'm really enjoying your Inner Engineering course right now. I've been going through it and I'm really enjoying it.
- SASadhguru
Oh, okay.
- 1:49:04 – 2:12:58
Anger, Responsibility and the Intellect as a Knife
- SASadhguru
You must punch a window pane or a wall better. A stone wall is good. [laughs]
- LHLewis Howes
[laughs] You'll feel it more. Yeah, exactly.
- SASadhguru
[laughs] Because, uh, that is the model that the Hollywood and the television shows, everything-
- LHLewis Howes
Mm-hmm
- SASadhguru
... is setting up. When you get angry, you break something, all right? [laughs]
- LHLewis Howes
Exactly.
- SASadhguru
So, see, first of all, people are assuming that anger is happening to them-
- LHLewis Howes
Hmm
- SASadhguru
... or misery is happening to them. No, this is exactly what I said earlier, maybe I didn't articulate it fully. No, you are creating anger, you are creating misery, you are creating joy, you are creating whatever. All this is happening from within you. Is it true all human experiences happening from within us?
- LHLewis Howes
Uh, it's, it's, yeah, 'cause we perceive something and then we-
- SASadhguru
No, no
- LHLewis Howes
... am-
- SASadhguru
Something else, something else may stimulate, but human experience is happening from within us, isn't it?
- LHLewis Howes
Right.
- SASadhguru
Whether it's love or hate or anger or misery or joy or anything, it's only happening from within us.
- LHLewis Howes
Right.
- SASadhguru
Now, simple question I am asking is, what happens from within you, should you ha- should it happen your way or somebody else's way?
- LHLewis Howes
It should happen your way.
- SASadhguru
Of course. Because the world will never happen your way 100%, because there are so many stakeholders in the world. Little bit will happen my way, little bit your way, that is fine. But what happens within me must happen my way. If what happens within me does not happen my way, this is the worst form of slavery, isn't it?
- LHLewis Howes
Wow.
- SASadhguru
Somebody decides what happens within me. Somebody decides where I should sit. This is slavery. Everybody understands this.
- LHLewis Howes
Mm.
- SASadhguru
Now, somebody decides whether I am happy or unhappy. Isn't this the worst form of slavery?
- LHLewis Howes
Yeah.
- SASadhguru
So this is the liberation that humanity needs to work at. This is what Inner Engineering means. Inner Engineering is not some, uh, mechanical process, because engineering means this, essentially. You will say something is well-engineered only if it works the way you want, isn't it?
- LHLewis Howes
Mm-hmm.
- SASadhguru
If this one doesn't work the way you want, what the hell are you expecting other things to work the way you want? It's just an accident. When you live accidentally, anxiety is normal.
- LHLewis Howes
Yeah, it's, it's every day.
- SASadhguru
[laughs]
- LHLewis Howes
W- but when you're living on purpose and intentionally and mindfully, you should be able to shift out of that.
- 2:12:58 – 2:26:10
Seeking, Immunity Tips and Defining Greatness
- LHLewis Howes
Okay. So i- is that, is that one truth then, become a seeker?
- SASadhguru
No, no, we can explore all the other two also.
- LHLewis Howes
Okay. Okay.
- SASadhguru
[laughs]
- LHLewis Howes
Perfect. Perfect.
- SASadhguru
Different doors to the same building.
- LHLewis Howes
Different doors to the same building.
- SASadhguru
[laughs]
- LHLewis Howes
Got it. Um, I want to, uh, I want to encourage everyone to get Inner Engineering, because as I'm going through it right now, I'm really enjoying the philosophy that you're sharing with everyone. Uh, where can we go to get access to this and, and follow you on social media? I've got a couple questions left for you, but I wanna make sure everyone goes and gets access to this because it's a way for them to continue to seek.
- SASadhguru
One thing is right now, if you are, if you are a frontline worker working for the COVID virus, then it's offered free to everybody. Otherwise, it's offered at half price because of the virus situation, so millions of people are making use of it. Uh, they should go to innerengineering.com, is it? Mm.
- LHLewis Howes
Innerengineering.com.
- SASadhguru
Innerengineering.com.
- LHLewis Howes
Yeah.
- SASadhguru
In the United States, that's where it is. So it's available there and, uh, they should go through it as quickly as possible. They shouldn't spread it. Let's say seven days, within 15 days if they go through it, it's most impactful.
- LHLewis Howes
Mm-hmm.
- SASadhguru
Now, in the next few days we are adding an extra bonus ... extra day, eight days, e- eighth, uh, session, which will come on day four or something, where we're teaching some practices mainly to enhance the immunity of the system-
- LHLewis Howes
Hmm
- SASadhguru
... considering these times. Right now, we can't be locked down forever. The only way for us to get back, s- we don't know a damn thing about this virus. I have been looking at every scientific, uh, studies. Like every day 128 new papers are being released, scientific papers.
- LHLewis Howes
Wow.
- SASadhguru
That means we don't know anything. Every day, little, little, little they're learning. So if you look at it, we don't have a clear statement, this is the nature of this virus, this is what it can do. Nobody has said that. So the only instrument that we have is a strong immune system if you have, you know you can pass through this. So as a part of this, we're in- introducing one more extra session, which must go in within the next few days, that there will be a series of practices that one can learn in one session, which will enhance the immune system. Here, we have talked to millions of people in rural India, which is making a huge difference.
- LHLewis Howes
Yeah, that's powerful. Yeah, I encourage everyone to go get that, and we'll have it linked up on the show notes and everything as well. Um, what are three things that you think, three habits that you apply in your life that you think are simple habits everyone should be applying for increased happiness and immunity in general?
- SASadhguru
Oh, these are two things, happiness and immune. Some people are immune to happiness. [laughs]
- LHLewis Howes
[laughs] I feel like if you have more happiness, your immune system would be increased as well, so.
- SASadhguru
Oh, definitely. If one is exuberant, all systems, including the immune system, will function better.
- LHLewis Howes
Hmm.
- SASadhguru
Because we should not understand happiness and joy as just a certain type of emotion. Essentially, when your life energies are exuberant, uh, it will naturally bubble out. You don't have to try to be happy. You don't have to be- try to be joyful. This will naturally happen. When your energies are exuberant and effervescent, naturally your immune system will work well. So those two things are different. But, uh, to... considering the times, I think I should say a few words on the immune system. There are a few simple things that you can do. In India, we have so many herbs and other things-
- LHLewis Howes
Mm-hmm
- SASadhguru
... in a tropical land that, uh, we are using very effectively. I must tell you this, where we are right now, we are near in the western part of Tamil Nadu. Where you went is the eastern part near the coast.
- LHLewis Howes
Mm.
- SASadhguru
This is the western part of Tamil Nadu. In this region, our volunteers have been active, giving a few s- you know, a, a few herbal drinks all around for the police, for the medical per- personnel, and all the whole population, a few million people, and we are also distributing this in various places. Wherever this has been done, in this region of Tamil Nadu, there's not been a single case till now.
Episode duration: 2:26:10
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