When I saw Sadhguru on Impact Theory podcast, I was so excited to explore the intersection between the world of spirituality and entrepreneurship.
While Tom Bilyeu, a Type-A entrepreneur, was passionate about inspiring people to be more and do more, Sadhguru’s teaching is about seeing the world as a whole and we are part of the whole.
The sense of self is something I always ponder on. The business world I observed is dominated by giving with the intention to make more money or make more friends who can generate more money. Ego, the great sense of ‘I’ is the core where this ecosystem revolves around.
It is interesting to see Tom Bilyeu engaging a world of living fully instead of striving for more, making space for Sadhguru while letting his ego down.
Potential
Sadhguru said that every being exists to live a full-fledge life. Human beings are unique in the way that there is no limitation to our consciousness; we can go as far as we have the courage to explore. Our potential is not about reaching a peak, it is a trajectory as a result of how we spend our time and energy.
While most of us spend 50% of our time on basic maintenance such as sleeping and eating, how much we can create with the rest of the 50% is dependent on the intensity of energy we put into our life.
The nature of life is made up of compulsory cycles such as the seasons, the orbit, and time, where these cycles should be a platform where we dance on it. However, many people live their life being the platform itself and let other people dance on them.
Joy is the foundation of growth
When Tom talked about getting efficient at achieving his goal and helping people to find joy through growth, Sadhguru immediately questioned him: why so? Isn’t joy the foundation of growth?
There are substantial scientific evidences showing that our mind and body work best when we are in a pleasant state. Living in a world full of external forces, we need to understand that the nature of the world is that not every force will cooperate with us.
Quoting Sadhguru, ‘it (the world) will a little bit your way, a little bit my way, and a little bit of others’ way’. If we understand that human experience comes from within us and we have full control of it, we will be free from fear and struggle.
Cultivating vs. raising a child
When Tom asked Sadhguru about his parenting approach, I found it interesting when Sadhguru said that we raise cattle and animals, but not children. Children need to be cultivated with love, support, and the freedom to choose.
Every child is an individual who has own their unique potential. We as adults need to cherish children’s individuality and not moulding them to be like us, look like us, behave like us, and see them as a legacy.
Although there will be many external forces that we cannot control, what we can do is to cultivate a child with intrinsic intelligence to know that being human is more important than succumbing to external validation.
Believing vs. seeking
Sadhguru said that the more conclusions we make, the less alive we are. Knowledge is the conclusion we draw about things around us, and it takes away our awareness when we live with the notion of knowing everything.
Belonging happens when people believe in or identify with something common within a group of people. It is comfortable to pretend that we know something when in fact we learn a conclusion made by others. On the contrary, a seeker is always alone. If we are not taught anything, every human being is a seeker by nature to find our own truth.
However, many people want to seek in the comfort of believing, which is like tying a boat to the pier and trying to row away. According to Sadhguru, there is nothing wrong about this. Rowing a boat that is tied to the pier will strengthen one’s muscle even though he goes nowhere. It is merely a choice one makes.
Life is openness
We live in the most comfortable time where there is an abundance of technology and science that provide us with external wellbeing. However, most of these technologies do not contribute to our inner wellbeing.
Today, many people are suffering because of the most amazing faculty that only human beings have — vivid memory and a fantastic sense of imagination. Suffering only happens in our mind.
What we do in life is relative to the time we live in, but the experience of being human is constant. We can determine how to live a full life within ourselves, this much is doable and this is what we must do.
Listening to this podcast was such a great reminder of what it means to be alive, what life could be if I open my heart, and how important it is to manage my inner experience.
