Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev
So, would he explain the West’s fascination for spirituality?
“In the West, religion is very set. It isn’t as if they all believe in spirituality. Initially, there’s a lot of scepticism and disbelief,” says Sadhguru. But since spirituality is a living process and has evolved along with the evolution of mankind, it has practical solutions for all of life’s problems, says Sadhguru. “Once they catch on to this, they’re on. Tenessee, for instance, is a hardcore Bible belt where people are extremely virulent about their religion. But we are doing very well there. That is because we do not sell spirituality as a new religion. The fact is, it is not. It is a well-being technique. So, it doesn’t matter if you are Hindu, or a Christian or Muslim. It is the question of the quality of your life,” explains the guru.
And for that quality of life, everyone is looking India-wards. “See, in many parts of the world, many things have happened towards human well being. But nowhere in the world has any culture looked at the inner mechanics of the being as a science, as an evolved essence of technologies, except for us. No other civilisation on this planet, except for India, has looked at the inner mechanics of a human being with as much depth and dimension as it has been done in our culture – and we’ve been doing it for thousands of years. If only we had presented this as a proper science earlier, by now the whole world have been on to it. But we have not bothered to present it well. And if, inspite of that, people naturally recognise the depth and dimension of what is being offered, it talks of the wisdom of our ancestors,” says Sadhguru, explaining why people, when they seek a change in their spiritual composition, come to India and why Indian belief systems, and practices like yoga, are a rage abroad.
And it is this presentation of our spiritual tenets as a science that, Sadhguru believes, is enticing a world of followers. “The thing is, in other parts of the world, people mostly try to handle their well-being with a belief system. They believe in something, and from that evolves teaching, or philosophy. Fundamentally, if you work hard enough on a human being right from his or her childhood, you can make him or her believe anything. So, what you believe is not of much significance – you can believe just about anything, it is accidental, based on where you are born and how you are brought up.
“But our sages were wiser than that. What they taught us was based, hundred per cent, on science. I present spirituality as a technology for inner well-being. So, yoga and Indian way of life finds an acceptance everywhere in the world – including Arabia, which has some strong belief systems in place. Generally anybody is open to basic sense, isn’t it? Who’s not interested in their own well-being?”
