Sadhguru: Developing an Inclusive Consciousness @ Talks At Google (Transcript)

 

Here is the full transcript of Indian yogi and mystic Sadhguru’s (Jaggi Vasudev) talk on Developing an Inclusive Consciousness @ Talks At Google conference. This event occurred on October 3, 2016.

Jonathan Berent – ‎Owner, ‎SocialAnxiety.com

Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Jonathan Berent, and I’ll be your host today.

Thank you so much for coming. Thanks to those that are on the livestream today as well. We live in dynamic times. Never before has a generation been so assaulted by the images from the media, stories from the internet that seem to touch a nerve in us personally. Seems like every week, whether you are black or white, straight or gay, from a rich background or a poor background, there’s a story that elicits a reaction in us.

But there is hope. As long as the human spirit is alive on this planet, there will always be hope. We only have to think of names like Mahatma Gandhi or Mother Teresa, now Saint Teresa, Anne Frank or Martin Luther King, to know that it just takes a single, passionate individual who has the courage to risk it all to bring the light into this world. If you would, picture one of their iconic faces in your mind right now. Just take a moment.

Bring one to mind. What do you notice inside? Is it courage, inspiration, love? Before them, there had been numerous beacons of change that have walked from all walks of life. Milarepa was a Tibetan monk who was very revengeful in his youth, but then he became one of Tibet’s most loved and cherished figures of history. Saint Francis of Assisi was a rich, disillusioned young man who left it all to pursue a life of compassion and generosity towards everyone. The prophet Muhammad was also born into a noble family and grew up to be rich but then turned contemplative.

What these three individuals have in common is they all had the courage to do the inner work first before they brought outer change. Let’s stop there for a minute.

Speaking of inner work, how many of you might have had a little twinge of emotion when I said one of these names? Why? Well, these names, these last three ones, are associated with world religions. And some of these religions have been associated with violence. We’re not talking about religion today.

We’re not talking about spirituality today. You can all breathe a sigh of relief. We are talking about taking a moment to reflect on the times that we live in and what they require of us, what they require of us as an individuals and what they require of us as a company, one of the most influential companies on the planet. If you felt a twinge of emotion when I mentioned one of these names or even the word “religion,” that’s normal. If you feel outraged by the things you see on TV or read in the newspaper, that’s normal.

If you have passionate feelings about the election that’s coming up in a month, that’s normal. In fact, if you don’t have some of those passionate feelings, I’d say that’s not normal. However, we have to learn to deal with these emotions. We have to learn to find ways that integrate our thoughts and our emotions more constructively so we can more skillfully navigate these dynamic times so we can have impact. Today we hope to give you both the permission and the tools to do just that.

Sadhguru is a realized yogi and mystic. He’s a man whose passion spills into everything he touches, including, I learned yesterday, golf. With a keen mind and an unbounded heart, his presence alone gives you a taste of what the natural state of the mind can experience in terms of love and joy and freedom. Sadhguru’s vision to transform the world has been unfolding over the last 30 years. The Isha Foundation, which he started, has numerous programs to promote inclusive culture and establish global harmony.

Named one of India’s 50 most influential individuals, he has deeply touched the lives of millions worldwide. He has spoken at forums like the United Nations and humble villages throughout India. He’s equally known for his transformational yoga programs, as well as his large-scale social projects. The projects address things like quality education for the poor, environmental stewardship, holistic health, peace, and well-being. Sadhguru says joy is our nature, misery our own making.

This is a provocative statement that he addresses in his new book, “Inner Engineering, a Yogi’s Guide to Joy,” which there will be a few copies for sale in the back. Sadhguru!

Sadhguru: You don’t mind if I cross my legs?

Jonathan Berent: No, please.

Sadhguru: My brains don’t work if I don’t cross my legs.

Jonathan Berent: Your brain doesn’t work?

Sadhguru: Yeah.

Jonathan Berent: Yeah, all right. Thank you so much for joining us today, Sadhguru. I think the audience is very interested in what you have to say. I guess to start, they define inclusive consciousness. I’d love to hear your thoughts on–

Sadhguru: They did not define it.

Jonathan Berent: They did not, OK. Well I was just going to ask you what’s missing. So you can start.

Sadhguru: With all due respect, they spoke about intent, right intent. They spoke about the right kind of thoughts, emotions, attitudes, and to some extent actions. There is no consciousness in this. If we are understanding that the way we think, feel, and act is of a consciousness, no. It is like we are mistaking a plant. We are mistaking the flower for the soil.

We are mistaking expressions for the source. This is something that’s happening everywhere, not just here. People think by changing attitudes, their consciousness will change. No. By changing attitudes, certain actions will change — yes, positive, beneficial. But it is not truly transformative.

Change will happen. Transformation will not happen. If I have to define a distinction between change and transformation, change means the residue of the past will still remain. A transformation means nothing of the past will remain, which is what is needed today if you want to create a new world, if you want a new generation to have a fresh life.

It’s been expressed in so many ways. Being in this part of the world, what their family are with, generally, someone said, leave the dead to the dead. It’s very significant. This is not coming out of recklessness. This is not coming out of unconcern. But this is coming with the concern that you must be a fresh life.

You can learn many things from the past about how to conduct yourself. But there is nothing to learn from the past about how to be. Because you are a complete life by yourself. You don’t have to learn how to be a life from the past.

Maybe you have to learn how to be a good engineer. Maybe you have to learn how to be something else in the society from the past. But you don’t have to learn how to be a life from the past, because past has nothing to do with this. This is a fresh life, and this is a complete life. Consciousness is that dimension, which is the very source of who we are.

Our intentions, our actions, our thoughts, and our attitudes are a consequence of that. Or in other words, we are trying to fix the consequence without fixing the source. Now all these distinctions of variety of things that they said, gender discriminations, racial discriminations, every kind, OK? Somebody is Hindu, somebody is a Muslim, somebody is a Googler– it becomes a religion after some time, believe me. Second generation, they will become a religion by themselves. Yes.