Lighting Up the World
Always, in the world, that which people logically understand as “useful” is held as the highest. This is a huge obstruction for humanity, which will not allow them to flower into the consciousness that ultimately is the only solution for human wellbeing. This solution will not be achieved if we keep on idealizing things that we do which actually just patch up life. If for example somebody is sick and we attend to him, it is just a patchup job. He should not be sick in the first place. If nobody is sick, no patching up is needed. If there are no disasters, there is no need for disaster relief.
Most of the time, people get caught up in the problems that exist at that moment, and in trying to fix them only for short-term benefit of life around us. We should not ignore the problems; we should not just close our eyes and wish them away—they will not go away. But if you get attached to the problem, you are the problem because you will not let the problem go since you feel your salvation depends on the problem, your satisfaction and pleasure depends on the problem. Once you start enjoying the problem, you are somehow constantly wishing there must be a problem in the world; otherwise, what will you do?
What is the solution, ultimately? If every human being can light up within himself, if every human being becomes a solution by himself, so that he does not create any problems, neither for himself nor anybody around him, then we do not have to go about solving problems anymore. We have to think how to light up the whole world because that is the ultimate solution. “Oh, that looks like a pipedream!”—No, it is not. It is just that such possibilities have not been offered on a large scale till now; only in small proportions it has happened in the world. What does lighting up the world mean? It has been expressed in so many beautiful ways. Jesus said, “Iftherefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.” It means if you had only one eye instead of two, your whole body would light up. When we say “two eyes,” we are not just talking about the visual apparatus; we are talking about the discriminatory mind, the right and the left, the ida1 and the pingala2, the masculine and the feminine which is causing duality, which is confusing you in so many ways.
All the polarities in existence are essentially created by your mind. If you transcend the limitations of your logical mind, suddenly there are no polarities—there is one exuberant existence. Transcending the limitations of the discriminatory mind traditionally is referred to as samadhi—that means you have attained to an equanimous state; you have become one-eyed. Once you have become one-eyed, you see everything alike. Suddenly, your body is lit up from inside. If you close your eyes, you are not in darkness anymore; it is bright.
When you are looking at your life only as a survival process, discrimination is a must. If you walk out on the street, you are like any animal in the forest, constantly looking who is okay, who is not okay; where is the danger, where is a friend, where is an enemy. If you live in that condition, survival gets taken care of; but if this discriminatory process exceeds its limits, everything in existence becomes regimented.
The discriminatory mind is useful only for survival, but it can go to extremes. If you want to perceive life for what it really is, you need one eye, not two. The two will help you to survive—and that is all. It is just that over a period of time, the survival process has gotten extremely complicated. At one time, survival used to be just food in the stomach. Now it has become many, many things. Constantly going on complicating the survival process will present you with many problems. And of course you could preoccupy yourself with inventing problems and trying to find solutions.
If you have become one-eyed, you will see you will light up; otherwise you will remain a blind person for the rest of your life. If you are looking for an external light source, you will always remain a beggar. Unless the source of light becomes within you, you will always be at somebody’s mercy. You will always feel inadequate. The idea of walking the spiritual path is to go beyond that inadequacy.========
Footnotes:
1. One of the major pranic channels in the body; located on the left side of the body; feminine (intuitive) in nature
2. Another major pranic channel; located on the right side of the body; masculine in nature
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[Named one of India’s 50 most influential people, Sadhguru speaks before millions annually around the globe, including to prominent leadership forums such as the United Nations, the World Economic Forum, TED, and the World Peace Congress. From ground-breaking yoga programs to projects for rural communities and the environment, Sadhguru’s Isha Foundation (www.IshaFoundation.org), serves as a thriving model for human empowerment, which is reflected in the Foundation’s special consultative status with the UN.]Enjoyed reading Khabar magazine? Subscribe to Khabar and get a full digital copy of this Indian-American community magazine.
