Sadhguru Answers Questions About Seeking Spiritual Path, Guidance From Guru, & More

Question: On the spiritual path, how do I know that I am progressing?

Sadhguru: On the spiritual path, there is really no progress. This is not to discourage you, it is just that you are either here or there. But in terms of preparation, you may be progressing, you may be becoming more willing by the day.

So one simple litmus test is: from yesterday to today, are you a little more joyful and peaceful? This is not because we are seeking joy or peace. It is just that, as you become more uncluttered, you naturally become more peaceful and joyful. So that is an indicator that you are becoming more willing. If you are not willing, you will be sitting and working your brains out, but if you are willing, you can just sit here, breathe and be happy. That is an indication that you have become more prepared.

But regarding the real process of spirituality, there is no progress as such. It is just one moment. But there is progress in preparation.

Question: How does a seeker make best use of a Guru?

Sadhguru: If I were to give you a little toy car, you know how to use it and make it work. Or if I give you a regular car, you know how to drive and enjoy that also. But if I give you a spaceship, you would not know head or tail of it. Definitely you would not know what to do with it. So a guru is a vehicle who wants to take you beyond your present dimension of existence. You just would not know how to handle a vehicle which could take you to other dimensions, isn’t it? So, you do not try to use it. You just learn to be with it.

If you just learn to stay within the space of the spaceship, wherever it goes, it takes you there. So, you just learn to sit in his space; you do not try to use him. That will be a big mistake. That is a great mistake that millions of seekers have always done for ages – trying to use the guru. You just learn to sit in the spaceship without getting off. If you get off at every excuse, where will you go? You will not go anywhere. You just learn to be in its space. What has to happen will happen.

Question: I have a tendency to sabotage myself when things are going really well. Can Shambhavi Mahamudra help me break this pattern?

Sadhguru: So you like to play solitaire against yourself! There is sufficient life around to play with, you don’t have to play with yourself. When you are by yourself, it is time to tend to yourself, to grow and evolve. The sadhana that has been given to you has been given only after some fundamental preparation that makes you see that you are an individual.

An individual means, it is not further divisible. This is just one, you cannot make two out of it; but people are always busy trying to make two. Their ego, their soul, their consciousness and super-consciousness comes in – they have become many characters in one, which is not safe. There is only one here – just you.

The first and foremost thing is to establish that there is no other factor, “Everything that is being generated as an experience within me is my doing.” We have sufficiently established this in the programs that you have gone through.

In India, it was common in previous generations to hear people say, “It is my karma,” which means “It is my doing. My life is my making; it is not somebody else’s making. It is not something else influencing me; it is me.” This is very important. If you do not establish this one factor, you will keep playing these games for the rest of your life.

The sadhana that has been given to you is designed to establish the individual, to strengthen and stabilize the individual, so that there are no two inside; there is only one. Once this happens, these games will recede. Initially, you have to start with a commitment. No matter what, the next one year, you are going to do the practice. Whether it gives you any benefit or not – just do it. Do not look every day at “What’s happening? Did this happen, did that happen?”’ – No, just do it. I am not advertising for any product. Just do it, okay?

(In his Ask Sadhguru column, the spiritual leader talks about intelligence being important to live life sensibly)

(Sadhguru is a Yogi, mystic, visionary and a New York Times bestselling author. He is also the founder of Conscious Planet – Save Soil)

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