Sadhguru: How Do We Handle Hard Times in Life (Transcript)

“When will you learn how to handle my thought? How to handle my emotion? We will give you tools, how to figure this machine out… Whatever the issue, we’ll do our best. But this should not be the issue.” – Sadhguru

Question:

In life, there are many phases where we feel that we are depressed, we are lonely. And when everybody is against us, and there is no one to guide us or talk about it. So at that moment, how should we handle it? Or how should we deal with it?

Sadhguru:

See, this is an unfortunate condition that a whole lot of human beings are in. In their experience, in their personal experience, life is like ‘me versus the universe’. Being in competition with the universe is a stupid thing to do. That’s not a competition you must get into. ‘me versus the universe’ is a bad competition to get into. Would you also agree with me? So, this is why yoga…

Yoga does not mean twisting and turning your body. The word ‘Yoga’ means ‘Union’.

Right now it’s me versus the universe. This is just your psychological condition. This is not the reality. Even when you feel utterly lonely, are you still breathing? So you’re transacting with the world, isn’t it? Yes. You only can’t get along with the people around you. But atmosphere is okay with you. Food is okay, if it tastes good. Water is okay. You have transaction with the world, isn’t it?

Your existence is constantly an engagement with the universe, but your mind becomes against the universe. If you create a psychological condition that you are against, or you’re in competition with the universe or the cosmos, obviously you will feel crushed for small things. Little things will crush you.

When I say little things, maybe you failed your examination. Maybe you got thrown out of this university. Maybe you got fired from a job. Maybe somebody ditched you. Maybe something else like this happened. These are all small things between life and death, because you came here with nothing, isn’t it?

When you die, there is no container service for you. You die with nothing. In spite of that, most people have turned their homes into warehouses. Most people are carrying such a huge baggage on their head, as if they’re carrying the whole universe on their head. This is their own psychological condition.

Your thought and emotion is what you’re talking about, right?

When are you going to figure out how to handle your thought and emotion? Not hers, not hers, not his – yours. When are you going to learn how to handle my thought and my emotion? At the end of your life?

The only problem really with life is just this. Most human beings have taken themselves too seriously. They don’t understand. You’ve seen on the computer screen these pop ups. You are a pop-up on this planet. You pop up for two seconds and pop out!

Now you must see countless number of people like you and me have walked this planet. They were also big people. Where are they? All topsoil. Topsoil or no? Unless they, somebody, your friends, decided to bury you real deep, fearing that you may rise from the dead – you know, there have been such instances.

Or maybe you’re planning to go to heaven. Anybody who talks about a place other than this place as a better place than this — this is a crime against humanity.

My fundamental work is to destroy all heavens, so that people will learn to live well here. All these idiots who made a hell out of themselves, they want to go to heaven. They made a mess out of this place, and then they want to go to heaven.

I’m asking you, do you have any proof? Do you have any proof that you are not already in heaven and messing it up? Do you have any proof — you’re already in heaven making a mess out of it?