Impact over Profit
As human beings, we can do so many different activities. But whatever the nature of our activity, in today’s world, even hard-nosed businessmen are talking about impact, not profit. “Impact” is a crude way of saying, “We want to touch someone’s life.” Whether business people are talking about the impact or you are forming a personal relationship with someone, essentially, somewhere, you want to break the boundaries with someone for some time.
To be a Yogi means to be determined to obliterate the boundaries of your individuality. In some way, you want to erase the lines that separate you from the rest of the universe. Yoga means to approach it in a scientific way. You do not have to do any great amount of activity; you do not have to indulge in sexuality; you do not have to get entangled in anything. If you consciously erase your boundaries, simply sitting here, you can experience a trillion times more than with any activity, and it is just fantastic. Yoga means to obliterate your boundaries.
Desperate Attempts
All the human nonsense that you see on the planet is only because of concretized boundaries. They have just concretized their boundaries so rigidly that if two people meet, they will clash. Yoga does not mean twisting and turning; it is not a weight loss program or stress relief program. It means you understood the stupidity of “me versus the universe.” It is absolutely idiotic to be in competition with that which is the source of your life. When you realize that, you are moving towards Yoga.
It does not matter how you do it. You can call it impact; you can call it service; you can call it whatever you want. Essentially, when you realize this me vs. the rest of the universe is a stupid competition to get into, you start relaxing your boundaries – this is Yoga. That means approaching it in a fail-safe way. When two people fall in love or get married, they think they are in Yoga, and they break their boundaries, but after some time, you will see it is not fail-safe.
Not necessarily do two people have to turn against each other after some time. Maybe comfort will happen. In rare moments, they might have erased boundaries. The rest of the time, it is a mutual benefit scheme. Whatever form it is, Yoga essentially means this: the first thing is you are interested in erasing your own boundaries. And if you know the joy of what it means, then you want it to happen all around you.
The Irony of Life
The fundamental irony of life is – the very instruments of life turn against us. Without this body, we do not know how to live here. Without this mind, we do not know how to live here. Body and mind are the two most basic instruments of life, but it is these two which have turned against people. You can call it suffering, misery, disease, or any number of names. Essentially, two basic instruments of life have turned against you.
Keeping these two things for you, not against you, is our most basic responsibility. If the body and mind turn against us, the human potential will not be realized. Let us say you have a headache; nothing big, no cancer – just a headache will ruin your life. Or let us say your nostrils are stuffed all the time – nothing big, just a cold. First, you will say, “What’s the big deal?” But suppose it lasts for a few years; you will see life is lost. Not because of cancer, not because your heart broke, just a cold – life is lost. If this body, if this mind turns against you, then you cannot explore the full depth and dimension of what it means to be human.
Making Everything Work for You
Some people have this issue – the very universe is against them simply because of the way they exist. When you have that kind of opposition, you cannot live. Yoga means to keep everything – body, mind, existence – working with us, or better, we are working with it. Now, if something happens, it is wonderful; if nothing happens, it is too fantastic. Something important to do today – wonderful! Nothing to do – fantastic! But for most people, if something happens, it is a problem; if nothing happens, it is a super problem.
Yoga means you become a part of everything. You still have an individual existence but with open, porous boundaries. Because of this, in some way, we have become everything, and we are okay with anything. If you really open up your boundaries and existence and its source are working with you, what needs to happen will happen. This is what Yoga means – to be in tune with everything simply because you loosened your boundaries. You make the boundaries porous so that life seeps in, so you are not a prisoner in your own body and your mind.
Prisoner of Your Own Making
Most people are prisoners of their own body and mind. Instead of your body and mind being platforms upon which life is housed, they become the prison walls for life within. You always have to keep it up to feel like it is worth living, and not just you; you expect a few other people to cooperate. Yogis just stayed alone, not because they did not care, but simply because they were just fine by themselves. If the society of the times had shown the right kind of interest, they probably would have stepped in. We are at a time in history where…
For example, in my father’s generation – whatever personal things were happening in their lives, they never spoke about it to anyone; they just managed it within themselves and carried on with their life. Then my generation came. When I was in university, I just sat outside in the garden. Every day, someone came and told their whole life story to me. Not an interesting life, but they want to tell. All stupid stuff – how they suffered from their parents, their education, their poverty, their girlfriend or boyfriend – endlessly. At that time, I just heard all these things – everyone had a problem. It looked like I was some kind of a freak – I did not have any problem.
The Belly-Up Generation
My father’s generation used to write journals. Even in my generation, a lot of people wrote journals about all aspects of their life, and they didn’t want anyone to see it. If anyone ever opened as much as a cover page, they would be terribly upset. “Without me knowing, you opened my journal” – it was like a crime. But today’s generation puts every aspect of their life on Facebook, and they will be terribly upset if no one sees it. Like, “I’m eating my breakfast,” – picture! “I’m licking my ice cream” – picture. Just anything and everything…
In a way, this is a belly-up generation. When a generation is belly-up like this, it is time for transformation – the best time. There are various things that I cannot articulate right now. If we really have to transform human beings on this planet, they are available to you in a big way only for another fifteen to a maximum of thirty years. After that, it will be very hard to touch them. Of course, there will always be people who are willing and others who are not willing, but generally, the larger population will be super-willing for these fifteen to thirty years. Beyond that, it will be difficult for a variety of reasons.
A Possibility for a Limited Time Only
So, we are here at an appropriate time. If we do the right things, we can touch a maximum number of people. But if time passes, if this generation passes, and once they are off Facebook and everything, it will be difficult. Above all, if we do not strongly enough impart Yoga in the world, in another twenty-five to thirty years, more than ninety percent of the world’s population will be on some kind of chemical. Once they are on chemicals, you cannot talk to them. The world is rapidly getting there. If you do not show them another way to take away the boundary simply sitting here, they will get there in a way that is not for keeps. It is only for a few minutes or a few hours – afterward, it will get them.
This is just the right time, and it is our time on the planet. If we are committed and determined, we can make this the best time ever in the history of humanity because we are empowered like never before. Survival is taken care of like never before – for human beings, at least, not for the other creatures, unfortunately. Never before did human beings have so much comfort and convenience. If we do not do the right things now, later, it will be too late; because later, situations will be very different. It is estimated that with the rise of Artificial Intelligence, probably in seventy years’ time, anywhere between forty to fifty percent of the population may commit suicide. Simply because if there is nothing to do, they will see no worth in their life.
Yoga: Transformative Catalyst
It is very much possible that we will go that way. So imparting Yoga is not just another chore that you do in the world – it is a very significant activity. Everyone may not understand this right now. But if we all do the right thing, with enough intensity, in another five to seven years’ time, you will see how important Yoga will become in the world. Already the demand has become significantly more today than it was five years ago. The only thing is, when something is in so much demand, all of a sudden, all kinds of spurious stuff will come up because there is a market. If there is no quality product, people make up and do all kinds of things.
The classical system of Yoga is unique… Maybe it is not as entertaining as doing Zumba or something else, but if people give themselves to the Yogic process, they will do things that they have not imagined possible.
