What does it mean to be enlightened? Can yoga and other spiritual practices lead to it? These are frequently asked questions by many on the spiritual path. Sadhguru answers these and more.
What is the best path to enlightenment?
Are you always searching for the way to become enlightened? What is the difference between seeking physical well-being and seeking enlightenment? A child is born naturally innocent and blissful, but without the necessary consciousness that is easily corrupted at a young age. Sadhguru explains that if you are willing to die to the way you are and be reborn, you can once again be blissful but with awareness.
Enlightenment Quotes
“If your liberation becomes your only priority, everything will open up for you. Enlightenment won’t happen on the side.” – Sadhguru
“Devotion keeps your emotion at the highest level of sweetness – an ecstatic way to enlightenment.” – Sadhguru
“Enlightenment happens quietly, like the blossoming of a flower.” – Sadhguru
Right now, most people are not thinking of enlightenment. They are just trying to live a little better. They want to live a little more peacefully, joyfully, more efficiently, more effectively. We can use yoga for that also. It is a poor way of making use of yoga because yoga is capable of delivering you to another dimension of life; but it’s okay. If people are not satisfied with what they are seeking in their lives, they will never seek anything higher. If you talk about enlightenment to somebody who is hungry right now, he only thinks of food. Whatever people feel is missing right now in their life needs to be taken care of to some extent. Otherwise they will not seek anything higher.Now, if you have to be born once again, you must die first. If you are not willing to die, the question of being reborn doesn’t arise. This does not mean dying physically. If you leave this body, some other nonsense will be waiting for you. But if you die the way you are, if you destroy everything that you called “myself,” then you are born once again. This kind of birth happens 100% consciously. Once again you become blissful and innocent, but fully aware. Now, this blissfulness cannot be taken away by anybody. So, what you call “enlightenment” means a conscious self-annihilation.
Sadhguru: In India, enlightened beings have been referred to as Dwijas. Dwija means twice-born. Once, you were born out of your mother’s womb; it happened unconsciously. You did not make it happen – nature did it for you. When you were born, you came with a certain innocence and blissfulness. A child is innocent and blissful by himself. But since this blissfulness did not happen consciously, anybody can corrupt it in no time. In no time, they will take it away… For some of you, it was taken away by the time you were 12 or 13 years of age; for many it was already taken away when they were 5 to 6. Children are becoming tense at 5 to 6 years of age today because their innocence gets corrupted in no time, depending upon the volume of influence that people around have on them.
Isha Yoga is offered in such a way that all dimensions are included but nothing is compulsive. When we initiate people into the kriya, it is taught in such a way that everything is available. We don’t want to deny anyone enlightenment just because they don’t know it. We want to create a taste of another dimension so that they will seek it. At the same time, nothing is forcing itself upon you; you can use it any way you wish to. If someone were an ascetic and a “fulltime” yogi, I would initiate them in a completely different manner where the way they should go is compulsive. But generally, I will not initiate someone in a compulsive way. I initiate them in such a way that they can make use of it in many different ways and it still stays alive.
Seeking physical wellbeing is one thing. Seeking enlightenment is something else. To enhance physical wellbeing, you need to learn different techniques of self-preservation. Enlightenment means a conscious annihilation of yourself. For most people, it will take a certain amount of time and maturing to understand that whatever you make yourself to be, in the end, it is frustrating and not enough. However wonderful you make yourself, still it is not enough. Only when you disappear, everything becomes wonderful.
So, if right now all someone wants is to be peaceful and happy and do better in the activities they are doing – let’s have that, it’s okay. That doesn’t mean enlightenment is ruled out, but such a longing has not come yet. Still, the basic longing is to live better. You are not yet finished with life – you want to live well. When you have lived enough and you know that living better is not going to get you anywhere, then you want to go beyond life.
| Enlightenment Videos
What Does It Take To Reach Enlightenment? There’s nobody in the world who doesn’t want to reach enlightenment, or at least experience the benefits, says Sadhguru. Unfortunately, though they want to be there, they don’t want to walk the path. Only because people are off and on, Sadhguru explains, does the spiritual path seem arduous. Enlightenment Is Not An Accomplishment Enlightenment, Sadhguru says, was never referred to as an achievement, only as a realization of something already there. He explains, it is only because we have enshrined our thoughts, emotions, ideologies and beliefs that we are unable to see the truth of creation in its entirety.
A seeker asks Sadhguru what enlightenment is and what the path is for people in family situations. Sadhguru speaks about the nature of enlightenment and the spiritual process and explains how they can be pursued by people from all walks of life. |
Tools of Enlightenment
Inner Engineering will empower you to reach your spiritual enlightenment. It is an opportunity to engineer an inner transformation that deepens your perception, bringing about a dimensional shift in the very way you look at your life, your work, and the world that you inhabit. It is offered as a program for personal growth and establishes the possibility of exploring the higher dimensions of life, in addition to optimizing health and success. Learn a powerful 21-minute meditation called Shambhavi MahaMudra Kriya. Inner Engineering is offered in person with Sadhguru along with teacher-led programs across US and Canada. Click here to learn more.
Related Articles
https://isha.sadhguru.org/us/en/wisdom/why-enlightenment-seems-far-away
https://isha.sadhguru.org/us/en/wisdom/article/story-gnana-sambandars-enlightenment
https://isha.sadhguru.org/us/en/wisdom/article/ramakrishna-paramahamsas-enlightenment
https://isha.sadhguru.org/us/en/wisdom/article/sadhguru-enlightenment-experience
https://isha.sadhguru.org/us/en/wisdom/article/how-long-does-it-take-to-get-enlightened
https://isha.sadhguru.org/us/en/wisdom/article/spinal-touch-enlightened-on-the-level-of-energy
https://isha.sadhguru.org/us/en/wisdom/sadhguru-spot/way-to-enlightenment
Plus receive a free eBook by Sadhguru
