How to Eliminate Suffering?

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How to Eliminate Suffering?

In the Veterans Health Administration, I feel as though we have a tremendous opportunity. It’s the largest integrated health system. The people there are extremely forward-thinking and innovative and believe and understand how broken the system is. The suicides is one example only. We have a unique opportunity. We interface with … The majority of physicians that are trained in this country have some of their training through a VA relationship as well. We have the opportunity to impact medical education, clinical models, etc. Just in my office we have nine health systems that are centers of innovation, where we have permission and the desire to do it differently and begin to learn what might that look like, whether that’s with the veterans, whether that’s with how we interfaced with physicians. All of this is to say there’s a tremendous opportunity to really step out of what’s comfortable, to really step out of what we already know and to do it differently.

I understand what you’re saying, that we can’t transform overnight. I absolutely understand that and believe that as well, but I would like to get your insight into where, if you could wave the magic wand, where would you start? It doesn’t have to be one thing. It can be a thousand things, but I would love your reflections on how can we begin to really, now that we have permission, to do this differently?

There’s a somewhat limited experience I have of war. That is through cinema and documentaries and reading. I’ve not been in one. What I see is, particularly the way it is happening here, is people are trying to psych themselves up into action by pumping themselves up in a certain way. You see this happening in sports arenas today. Everywhere, everybody’s like this. Okay. If you bring a certain ease into this, they can become fine soldiers. When I say a fine soldier, it’s somebody who will do just what is needed, not one shard extra, not one shard less, not one shard more. The same should happen to all proficients of course, that we should not do anything more or less than what’s needed. We must do what’s needed, isn’t it? Just what it is needed, nothing more, nothing less, but because we’re charging ourselves up to action, we’re propelling ourselves into action because we believe if we raise a certain pitch of emotion we will act somehow.

No, we can act out of our sense. We can act out of our intelligence. We don’t have to act out of our anger or hatred or something because that will always be excessive action. Bringing this in before they go to war, before … I call them boys because I feel most of them are boys. They’re supposed to become men in the battlefield. They’re very young, isn’t it, when they go, a lot of them? These boys, before they go, if they start some simple process they will conduct themselves well through whatever duties they are given. When they come back they will come well. If that is not possible because you handled them only the veterans, after they come back, at least as soon as they come back or on the way back. We can give them a simple app that two or three times a day they just plug in on their phone or something and just do one simple process within themselves which will quiet down the whole thing.

What this is is, it’s like this: Is it a fact that you accumulated this body?

I’m not sure.

You already said when you were born you were only ten pounds.

Well, actually eight, but …

Okay. Now I will not discuss the present weight, but …

Yeah, that’s wise. That is very wise.

I will not. I will not do that.

Yes, you are indeed…

I am not that uncivilized, okay? This is an accumulation, isn’t it?

Yes.

Our body is an accumulation that we gathered. What you accumulate can be yours, can never, ever be you. Is it a fact? Right now as I’m speaking, if I pick up this glass and say, “This is my glass,” you will think, “Okay, Sadhguru’s got some problem, but everybody says he’s wise. Let’s listen some more.” After some time I said, “This is me.” Then you will say, “Come, let’s go. This is dangerous,” but this you’re doing every day. Food appears on your plate. You say, “This is my food.” After some time you say, “This is me.” Insanity or no? The moment you believe something that is not you as yourself … Are there psychiatrists here, Department of Psychiatry? I’m sure by definition you’ll qualify, isn’t it? Similarly, what you call as my mind is a heap of impressions that you have gathered. What you gather can be yours. It can never, ever be you.

Experientially, if you bring about this experience, that you learn to carry your body and your mind as two fantastic instruments that you have, you will treat them well. You will handle them well and you will have a completely different perspective of everything. We can bring this about in any human being who is willing to do one 12, 15 minutes per day, that slowly this experience manifests itself. If you go into the battlefield also, you are not going with fear. To cover that fear you exaggerate your anger or your hatred and do something which is not necessary. When you come back, also you can handle it. You’ve just fulfilled a duty that you were supposed to fulfill and nothing more and nothing less. This can be easily handled.

Whether you’re a doctor or a soldier, if you bring this much sense into you, that what is you, what is not you, you learn to handle it distinctly separately. You will see your ability to handle your body and your mind will be phenomenally enhanced. Health will be a natural consequence of that. Once they’re in that kind of situation there are many more things that can be done. There are various other interventions which can be done large scale, but that will need a certain level of training and things. At least a certain number of people should go through a certain intense training, but this can be done without any training, just an app on the phone.

Is that where you would begin with the professionals …

I think that’s a way to begin, definitely.

What I’m hearing is that it’s the right place to start as professionals …

Do not think in terms of love, compassion, all these things. Please understand, whatever you experience as yourself … Did anybody teach you be loving to this little finger? Be compassionate. Do not cut it off. Do you need such a teaching, I am asking? What you experience as a part of yourself, with that you have no issue, isn’t it? It’s the other which is the problem. The basis of yoga is to eliminate the other. There is no such thing as other. You begin to experience everything as yourself, not by imposition, not by thought, not by psyching yourself, by coming down to the reality because the reality and the existence is happening as one whole. It is only a psychological idea that you are separate.

Can you exist in the universe by yourself? You’re in war with everything, isn’t it? Your body’s in war with this Earth every moment of your life, or no? Yes? Most people understand this only when you bury them. They don’t understand that they’re a part of this planet. It’s just a small pop up.

A pop up. That’s funny.

Isn’t it?

Yes.

It is funny. You’re just a small pop up from this planet. Whatever you may think, anyway you will be absorbed back. Now when you popped up you better pop joyfully and well.

Yes, always best to pop joyfully. Absolutely.

Bringing that reality, experience your reality into your life, not as a thought, not as an idea, not as a concept, but as a living experience. If you’ll see that this body and this mind is something that you gathered, whatever suffering that you or any human being has known in his life or her life is only the physical or mental. Isn’t it so? Do you know any other kind of suffering? If you create a little space between you and the body, between you and the mind, this is the end of suffering. Once there is no fear of suffering, that is when a human being lives his life full stride. Otherwise he’s only half a stride. All the time, what will happen to me is the big issue, isn’t it? Human beings are living half stride, simply because the fear of suffering. What will happen?

If there is no fear of suffering, every human being would explode his full potential and things could be done so much better in every field of life. Now that we are talking about the veterans who come back from war, their lives could be made to come ease, that they can live in some pride. They’ve done something that nobody would want to do or have the courage to do, largely. Okay? They can live with certain sense of dignity, not being broken. It’s not fair. It’s just not fair. Somebody sticks their life out for you and they come and suffer or commit suicide. What the enemy could not do, you do it to yourself. That’s not fair, isn’t it? If you can’t stop the war, at least you must stop the suicide and the suffering.

I think that we have … The rest of healthcare and society has so much to learn from that very thing.

Definitely. This is only an extreme example. The rest of the society is also going through the same thing. Somebody may go to war and come back and suffer. Somebody may go to a conference and come back and suffer. Somebody may go home and suffer and come back. We don’t know where the suffering is. What is their battlefield of suffering? Who knows? Everybody’s going through something. War is a more extreme example.