Dubai: Internationally renowned speaker, visionary and one of India’s 50 most influential people, Sadhguru will be in Dubai on Friday for a Meet, Mingle and Meditate event at the Dubai World Trade Centre, which will also see the UAE launch of his latest book, Inner Engineering: A Yogi’s Guide to Joy, a New York Times and Amazon best-seller.
Ahead of his visit, Sadhguru, who is the founder of Isha Foundation in India in 1992, said: “My aim in this book is to help make joy your constant companion. To make that happen, this book offers you not a sermon, but a science; not a teaching, but a technology; not a precept, but a path.”
He shares his deeply incisive thoughts and views on how to bring about a transformation in one’s quality of life on some of the most common concerns that affect us all.
What is inner engineering and why is it the foundation of a successful life?
We are not teaching philosophies, ethics or morals. These are simple, powerful methods with which your body and mind naturally function at full potential.
If you are not peaceful, joyful and ecstatic, that means you have not done the right things with this life. Inner engineering is an exploration of how to do these right things.
What change does one have to make to cope with stress?
It is not your lifestyle, work, family or situations which cause stress. Whether you call it stress, fear or anger, essentially it is your inability to manage your body, mind, emotions and energy. The human body is the most sophisticated gadget on the planet. But have you read the user’s manual?
Stress is like friction in a machine. There is friction either because there is no proper movement of the parts or there isn’t enough lubrication. I am not talking about managing stress or keeping it under the surface. I am talking about how not to create it, because stress is your creation.
If you start a simple yogic process, you will find your whole system begin functioning at a certain ease. Then there is no such thing as stress.
How can one have a balanced relationship with food?
The best food is whatever gives you the necessary energy and agility without causing inertia and stiffness. Experiment and see — for most people, a vegetarian diet with 50 per cent uncooked vegetables and fruits and 50 per cent cooked food will do. Every individual must arrive at one’s own balance of diet, not by vows but by observation and awareness.
How do I keep my mind in a state of constant calm?
Right now your mind is the boss and you are the slave. The main aspect of meditation is you become the boss and your mind becomes the slave. Meditation is a certain quality, not an act. If you cultivate your body, mind, energies and emotions to a certain level of maturity, meditation naturally happens.
This thing called happiness. How do I learn to move towards true joy and share it?
The source of happiness is within you but right now, the stimulus is outside. The choice is to keep the stimulus outside or inside. Right now, somebody or something is deciding what should happen within you. This is the worst form of slavery. Unless this slavery is abolished, you will not see a better world. So one has to do a little bit of inner engineering to make this into a beautiful being.
How do I give my best at work and still make time for my loved ones?
There is no such thing as work and life, it is life and life. Your work has to be lived, and your life has to be worked at. Do not make a demarcation that there is something called work and life. There are different aspects of life, and they need to be dealt with. I work seven days a week, 365 days — but I don’t need a vacation. If you really do what you care for, your whole life is a vacation. So make your life a vacation by creating what you care for.
Who is Sadhguru?
Named one of India’s 50 most influential people, Sadhguru is a yogi, visionary, best-selling author and poet.
He was conferred the Padma Vibhushan, the second-highest civilian honour by the Government of India, accorded for exceptional and distinguished service.
He has been a delegate to the United Nations World Headquarters as the primary speaker on International Day of Yoga in 2016.
He has addressed the Indian Economic Summit, World Economic Forum in Davos, India Today Conclave and Hindustan Times Leadership Summit.
He has spoken at Oxford, Stanford, Harvard, Yale, Wharton and MIT.
