Meeting the golf-loving, motorcycle- riding mystic whose advise for life’s dilemmas did not involve hour long rituals or investments into his Isha Foundation, but just a slight shift in perception, was refreshing

Here are some of my favourite nuggets of wisdom from the evening.

When asked about the stressors of daily life such as demanding bosses and horrific traffic. Jaggi Vasudev (Sadhguru) retorted.

“Did you not spend hours deciding what kind of dream car you would like to buy? Now, when you’re getting a chance to spend more time inside your “dream car’ you’re complaining? Why?”

“You say you’re stressed at work, but if you were fired from that job, will it end your stress?”

Point taken.

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Yoga in the studio

On this recent day, the 60-year-old Yogi was dressed in a white dhoti, long black kurta, a coiled turban and a multi-coloured shawl that effortlessly fell over his shoulders. He talked about yoga as a way of life

“One can be completely intoxicated by life without drugs. You can shift from wine to divine by attuning your self to becoming “one” with everything around you.

Unfortunately, the studio yoga practiced here in the west has turned yoga into a physical routine of twisting one’s body into ridiculous proportions. The physical part of yoga is minuscule. Yoga is an art of transforming your inner self so that it’s in tune with the rest of the universe.”

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God is in the details

Years ago, when Sadhguru was a mere mortal and not the “conscious being,” he’s now, he became intrigued when some folks openly boasted about how God talked to them one-on-one.

So, Jaggi Vasudev hung outside temples, mosques and churches observing people exit places of worship.

Some devotees, he wryly observed, cursed the creator and creation when they noticed their shoes and chappals (which they had diligently removed outside the temple) missing. Others gossiped. Almost no one it appeared was connected to the divine. This led him to conclude:

“People coming out of restaurants have more joyful expressions on their faces than those coming out of the temples,” he said. “I call this dosa vs. divine.”

P.S: A sumptuous, crispy dosa (an Indian crepe made with fermented rice and often stuffed with potatoes) in my opinion definitely can come close to nirvana.

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That cursed technology

So, in his youth and perhaps later, Jaggi Vasudev had this habit of riding away on his trusty motorcycle for months on end. He rode to Chamundi Hills and jungles around Mysore but once every few days, he would stop by roadside telephone booths (manned by a human) to make dozens of calls to friends and family. He recalled how he would spend hours inside that stuffy booth rotary-dialing his contacts.

Today, he observed, his phone has the ability to connect him to millions people.

“Technology has no characteristic of its own,” Sadhguru said. “If you use it to abuse each other, it’s bad, but if it can help me reach millions of people, is it bad? It’s not technology, but humans that are a problem…”

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Traveling alone

“Someone who’s a seeker will always want to be alone, whereas a believer spouting bullshit needs the support of hundred of others. As long as you understand, ‘you know nothing’ but are open to learning, you’ll be okay.”