SADHGURU JAGGI VASUDEV - YOUTH AND TRUTH PROGRAM - HOW MUCH SUCCESSFUL - WHAT BENEFITS - WHAT IN FUTURE - MY QUESTIONS

SADHGURU

JAGGI VASUDEV

YOUTH AND TRUTH PROGRAM

Whenever Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev does something, I am first extremely impressed by the scale of the program and then the extraordinary success of the program. 

It was so, right from the beginning.

(i)                Be it Dhyana linga consecration and maintenance,

(ii)              Be it Bhairavi consecration and its maintenance,

(iii)            The 2 theerthakunds and their maintenance,

(iv)            Audiyogi consecration and its maintenance,

(v)  Establishing the Isha Yoga Ashram and its maintenance,

(vi)    Training crores of people in Yoga practices and networking most of them in some ways,

(vii)         Planting millions of trees,

(viii)        Establishing number of schools for poor children,

(ix)        River rejuvenation campaigns, effectively networking with state governments, persuading them and convincing many of them,

(x)           Bringing rural folk together through sports and so on

I might have missed a few other of his achievements like (i) his talks in international forums, Universities and his Ashrams in US, Lebanon etc, (ii) his Best seller books and what not.

Probably, his best achievement may be – His disciples in silence and in meditation for long periods of time.It has not seen the light of the world.

People with open mindsets admire him but may still criticize him on some aspects. People with constricted mindsets hate him also. 

Now, when Sadhguru announced the Youth and Truth program and asked students of so many colleges and Universities to take part in it, I was not very clear about his purpose. I am not clear even now. Students are supposed to ask any question they like. Sadhguru is supposed to answer all that.

I know Sadhguru is most suited for this sort of interaction with youth. He has done it earlier at his ashram countless times – with youth of all ages. 

I started following the Youth and truth programs of Sadhguru on youtube, recently and I have covered most of them. 

All types of wise, weird, nonsensical, typical, political, religious, household – no questions are prohibited. Whatever a student feels as important, he or she can shoot. And Sadhguru will answer.

Sadhguru has toured many Universities so far. He has received all questions thrown at him and answered them all from his perspective. Or, from their perspective. I don’t know.

I know - I would not have answered as good as he, even if the questions were written down and handed over to me one day in advance. Or a few days in advance. Probably most of us would feel same.

Now, what is the purpose of this question and answer session? How will the student community across India feel the presence of Sadhguru on their campus. Will his answers do some magic to them? Will they take to Yoga after this? I don’t know.

Surely, as a first feeler, a Yogi, who is also a Mystic, needed to meet the youth in our colleges and Universities. To dispel their suspicions, if nothing else. The youth needed it. India needed it. The youth needed to know that our Yogis are extraordinarily intelligent, more intelligent than college professors and top bureaucrats, they look at your problems  from a holistic perspective, they can give answers to your life’s toughest questions for which you will take a life time to get satisfying answers. 

No doubt, youth have prefixed ideas on many political and religious subjects and to make them look at the answers from a neutral, impartial perspective is difficult. 

But yet, it was needed. For all of them, meeting a yogi who doesn’t hate them or doesn’t get angry with them for their wildest questions must have been an experience.

His answers come from a wholly new and unexpected perspective. Like when he answered Chetan Bhagat. Like when he answered the lady who asked about their Mess which was in a Mess. 

Try the Left wingers and right wingers amongst you alternately, form committees and oversee the cooking. Whoever gives you the best food, select them. 

I don’t know if that is also the answer for all the mess in India

What questions would I like to fire at him, if am the youth who should ask the questions. I am 69 years young. So, I am not exactly the youth that Sadhguru is targeting. But who knows, I may live 150 years but all these students may not cross 100 – unless, of course, they too start exploring themselves in a yogic way. 

From that perspective, I may probably be younger in my life span than them. Tomorrow is uncertain – for them or for me – or even for Sadhguru. 

So what questions will I like to ask Sadhguru. I have written a 740 page big book titled “COMPREHENSIVE TREATISE ON PATANGALI YOGASUTRAS”. I like it any number of times I read. Now, it is on Amazon.in for sale. So, I may not ask him questions on Yoga.

I wrote a good book but I am not yet a Great practitioner. So, these are probably the questions I may like to ask Sadhguru :

1.     Sadhguru : Are you not talking of all non-yoga subjects most of the time instead of  Yoga subjects?

2.         You are doing wonderfully in answering the questions of youth, I wholeheartedly admit. When do you find time for Yoga at personal level?

3.         In Nepal, some boy did meditation for 6 months at a stretch once and many mediamen recorded it also. and it is said, he did it for a further 5 years at a stretch in deep jungles thereafter. Are there disciples in Isha Yoga centre attempting such feats in yoga? Is it not time that they are unleashed on all yoga enthusiasts?

4.     If any University is volunteering, is it possible to display that some disciples of Isha Yoga can do meditation for 24 hours at a stretch. Your Q-A sessions would have created enough interest for taking this further like this into practical yoga.

5.         Modiji has created enough interest in Yoga across the world with International Yoga day and you are carrying Yoga across the world and now right into the minds and hearts of Indian Youth. Is it that the second stage of this Youth and truth program is to involve them in practical yoga and make them taste the benefits of it and make them real seekers rather than believers in all that they do.

6.      Well. Enough of my 'any questions'. I admire you greatly and of course, I am a seeker myself. My children have undergone most of your programs and are wholly into Isha Yoga activities. I have undergone a few trainings myself. 

7.    I agree that tomorrow is very uncertain, yet, I personally wish you a long, long, healthy, successful life. Your success is our success, India’s own success and the whole humanity’s success, in the long run.

 Pranams

(V.Vijayamohan)

 Me & My Book

 

GREATEST QUOTES OF MAHATMA GANDHI - GANDHI JAYANTHI DAY

GREATEST QUOTES OF

MAHATMA GANDHI

Mahatma Gandhi was born on 2^nd October,1869 and died on 30^th,January,1948. Gandhiji was the tallest leader of India who has been accepted by the whole world, mainly for the twin principles of Truth and non violence that characterized all his life and all his struggles for the benefit of Humanity. His simplicity and truthfulness were par excellence. Today, let us remember some of his greatest teachings in the form of quotable quotes

Lal bahadur Sastri was born on2,October 1904 and died on 11 January 1966. He served as Indian Prime minister for a brief but most memorable period. His slogan of Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan is still the corner stone of Indian Policy makers in many ways. Let us pay our due respects to Satriji along with our respects to Mahatma Gandhi.

1.  The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.  (Gandhiji and Leprosy Patients in South Africa, Parchure Sastri, a Leprosy Patient served by Gandhi)

2.  You must be the change you wish to see in the world.

3.  My life is my message.

4.  Nobody can hurt me without my permission.

5.  Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.

6.  An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind.

7.  You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.

8.  Non-violence is the greatest force at the disposal of mankind. It is mightier than the mightiest weapon of destruction devised by the ingenuity of man.

9.  Non-violence requires a double faith, faith in God and also faith in man.

10.              We may never be strong enough to be entirely nonviolent in thought, word and deed. But we must keep nonviolence as our goal and make strong progress towards it.

11.              Poverty is the worst form of violence.

12.              Power is of two kinds. One is obtained by the fear of punishment and the other by acts of love. Power based on love is a thousand times more effective and permanent then the one derived from fear of punishment.

13.              To give pleasure to a single heart by a single act is better than a thousand heads bowing in prayer.

14.              A coward is incapable of exhibiting love; it is the prerogative of the brave.

15.              Action expresses priorities.

16.              An ounce of practice is worth more than tons of preaching.

17.              A small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission can alter the course of history.

18.              Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.

19.              I reject any religious doctrine that does not appeal to reason and is in conflict with morality.

20.              Rights that do not flow from duty well performed are not worth having

21.              Anger and intolerance are the enemies of correct understanding.

22.              Honest disagreement is often a good sign of progress.

23.              I have nothing new to teach the world. Truth and Non-violence are as old as the hills. All I have done is to try experiments in both on as vast a scale as I could.

24.              Intolerance is itself a form of violence and an obstacle to the growth of a true democratic spirit.

25.              Healthy discontent is the prelude to progress.

26.              What do I think of Western civilization? I think it would be a very good idea.

27.              There are people in the world so hungry, that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread.

28.              Those who say religion has nothing to do with politics do not know what religion is.

29.              Every formula of every religion has in this age of reason, to submit to the acid test of reason and universal assent.

30.              An unjust law is itself a species of violence. Arrest for its breach is more so.

31.              Man is supposed to be the maker of his destiny. It is only partly true. He can make his destiny, only in so far as he is allowed by the Great Power.

32.              You can chain me, you can torture me, you can even destroy this body, but you will never imprison my mind.

33.              I look only to the good qualities of men. Not being faultless myself, I won't presume to probe into the faults of others.

34.              I believe in equality for everyone, except reporters and photographers.

35.              Man falls from the pursuit of the ideal of plain living and high thinking the moment he wants to multiply his daily wants. Man's happiness really lies in contentment.

36.              I did once seriously think of embracing the Christian faith. The gentle figure of Christ, so full of forgiveness that he taught his followers not to retaliate when abused or struck, but to turn the other cheek - I thought it was a beautiful example of the perfect man.

37.              Interdependence is and ought to be as much the ideal of man as self-sufficiency. Man is a social being.

38.              Man can never be a woman's equal in the spirit of selfless service with which nature has endowed her.

39.              Let not the 12 million Negroes be ashamed of the fact that they are the grandchildren of slaves. There is dishonor in being slave-owners.

40.              I claim to be a simple individual liable to err like any other fellow mortal. I own, however, that I have humility enough to confess my errors and to retrace my steps.

41.              God is, even though the whole world deny him. Truth stands, even if there be no public support. It is self-sustained.

42.              God cannot be realized through the intellect. Intellect can lead one to a certain extent and no further. It is a matter of faith and experience derived from that faith.

43.              One's own religion is after all a matter between oneself and one's Maker and no one else's.

44.              Moral authority is never retained by any attempt to hold on to it. It comes without seeking and is retained without effort.