Isha forest flower jan 2014

Volume - 2 / Issue - 1 `15 Annual Subscription `180 January 2014
MANDELA
Man ‘O’ Man
He refused to surrender
The human in him even to the most inhuman
No matter what you take from him
You could not make him a lesser Man
Born of bondage and suppression
of the worst kind. Unrelenting
in his longing for Dignity and Freedom
Lived to see demonic rule end
Unfettered by bitterness or hate
Celebrating freedom with laughter and joy
Not many a man were born
Like him till our times
Hope he spawns many
Who will live like him.
The future needs many like him
Man ‘O’ Man
Grace & Blessings

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Editorial Team:
Isha Forest Flower c/o Isha Yoga Center, Semmedu P.O., Velliangiri Foothills, Coimbatore – 641114
forestflower@ishafoundation.org
2
Editorial
Dear Readers,
You have been initiated into a yogic kriya or meditation. You sit down and start the practice as
instructed. But then, a steady stream of thoughts diverts your attention to all kinds of mundane
matters, from snippets of conversations to what to have for dinner. Sounds familiar? Our Lead
Article, “Mind Your Garbage” presents Sadhguru’s antidote to frustration in the face of this
common challenge.
In the article “More Than a Man,” Sadhguru describes a new avenue to make spirituality
accessible and available to humanity. These new Adiyogi spaces will be monuments to
commemorate the one who first opened up the possibility of raising human consciousness. But
not only that – they will also be meditative spaces where anyone, regardless of their religious
or cultural backgrounds, can pick a simple spiritual process that can easily be integrated into
their lives. Sadhguru has created the blueprint. It is up to all of us to take the initiative to
establish such a space, wherever we are.
We are excited to introduce our new Isha Hata Yoga series. Each month, we will bring you
Sadhguru’s exceptional insights on how to enhance your sadhana. “Part 1: Getting Started – The
Element of Water” examines the first step towards setting the right conditions for Hata Yoga.
This month’s Leela episode includes two questions about Krishna’s life and legacy. In the part
“No Black and White in Life,” Sadhguru explains why Krishna gave his army to Duryodhana, who
is often seen as the personification of evil. In “Become That,” Sadhguru guides us as to how to
bring key attributes of Krishna – playfulness, inclusiveness, love and devotion – into our lives.
In the fourth part of their conversation, “Room for Growth,” Sadhguru and Tarun Tahiliani discuss
what distinguishes Bharat (India) as a nation and culture.
To recap recent events, the article “Women in Business” includes a synopsis of Sadhguru’s talk at
the Qatar International Businesswomen Forum. “Insight – The DNA of Success” captures highlights
of the second leadership program with Sadhguru and Dr. Ram Charan. In the excerpt of an interview
by Bloomberg TV India Editor Vivek Law, Sadhguru expands on his “Leadership Insights.” As the
temperatures chill, warm your senses and nurture your body with a hot “Drumstick Soup”!
Enjoy the read
The Editorial Team
ISHA FOREST FLOWER January 2014

CONTENTS
Lead Article
Mind Your Garbage
Sadhguru on Thoughts during Spiritual Practices (and Beyond) 4
Musings
More Than a Man
Sadhguru on Adiyogi’s Contribution to Human Consciousness 7
Isha Hata Yoga
Sadhguru on How to Enhance Your Sadhana
Part 1: Getting Started – The Element of Water 9
Leela Series
The path of the playful – part XLXI:
No Black and White in Life / Become That 11
In Conversation with the Mystic
Room for Growth
Sadhguru in Conversation with Fashion Designer Tarun Tahiliani – part 4 13
Featured Interview
Leadership Insights
Bloomberg TV India Editor Vivek Law’s Interview Sadhguru 15
News & Happenings
Insight – The DNA of Success
Second Leadership Program with Dr. Ram Charan and Sadhguru 17
Women in Business
Sadhguru Speaks at the Qatar International Businesswomen Forum 18
Upcoming Programs and Events
Shivanga Sadhana 19
Isha Yoga – Program Highlights 20
Isha Recipes
This Month: Drumstick Soup 21
Zen Speaks: No Better Than a Clow 23
January 2014 ISHA FOREST FLOWER 3

SADHGURU
Mind Your Garbage
Sadhguru on Thoughts During
Spiritual Practices (and Beyond)
The following is an excerpt from a darshan
with Sadhguru at the Isha Yoga Center,
Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India, on
5 December 2013.
Questioner: Namaskaram, Sadhguru.
During the practice of kriyas, there is
always this challenge of thoughts entering
my mind. I’m trying hard to keep them
away and focus on the kriya, but this doesn’t
really work. What to do about that?
Sadhguru: You are focusing hard and
trying to banish the thoughts, and they
are not going away. This is the nature of
the mind, but it looks like you are very
prejudiced against your mind. When you
are doing your kriya or your meditation,
you don’t mind if your kidneys or your
lungs are functioning, or if your heart
is beating. You don’t mind all the other
processes in the body – only your brain
should not function. The notion that if
you do something spiritual, your brain
should stop working is simply wrong.
4 ISHA FOREST FLOWER

Your thoughts are just the smells – either fragrance
or stink – of the stuff that you carry within you.
Nothing new arises. If you don’t let the stuff that
you have gathered go into your brain, your brain
will work in phenomenal ways. It can do things that
you have not imagined possible. But it is full of your
own rubbish right now – that is the struggle; that is
why you want it to stop. Instead of the brain being
the crown of your life, it has become the garbage
bin of your life. Physically, it is the crown. In the
symbolism of yoga, Sahasrar
1 is a lotus with one
thousand petals – “one thousand” not as a literal
number, but as something innumerable. If your brain
was rooted in the existential process, innumerable
possibilities would open up. But right now, your
brain is only rooted in the mental process.
Now you may say, “Sadhguru, that’s exactly what
I am saying – how to get rid of the thoughts?” No,
that is not what you are saying. You don’t want
your thoughts to interfere with your illusory idea
of enlightenment. Illusory because enlightenment
is not something that you cause. You don’t cause
light, but you see light. When the sun rises in the
morning, you do not cause the light, but you are
able to see it if your eyes are open. If you cause
light – let’s say with a torch or by any other means –
you always have to keep it up, and there will always
be the fear that it will go out.
The difference between education and
enlightenment is just this – you can educate
yourself with 1, 10, or 1000 books, but still you will
run out of material at some point. Enlightenment
means you did not educate yourself with books –
you are simply there; it is an endless process. Is
there something particular that an enlightened
person knows that you do not know? No. Is there
something particular that an enlightened person
does not know? No. I am not playing with words.
This is the nature of existence.
What is happening in your liver and kidneys is a lot
more complex than the thoughts that you generate.
If the activity of your organs does not disturb you,
why do your thoughts disturb you? Because you
think you are your thoughts. When you think, you
don’t see it as “my thoughts” – you say, “I think so.”
Because you are deeply identified with your thought
process, it is bothering you. You are not identified
with your kidneys unless you have a kidney
problem. If they function normally, most people do
not even feel if they have kidneys or not. Kidneys
are a device – they are functioning so efficiently we
can forget about them.
You are always conscious of that which does not
function efficiently. You know, I am making a
statement about your brain. If it was functioning
smoothly, you would not notice your brain, like
you do not notice your kidneys or liver. If you
were not identified with it, you would not notice
it. If you are identified with it, it is a big deal.
You are not your thought. You are identified
with something that you are not. Once you are
identified with something that you are not, you
cannot stop the mental process – it will just go on
endlessly. It is like when you have eaten bad food,
gas will develop. You cannot stop it with as wine
cork. You just have to stop eating bad food.
The bad food for you is right now, you believe
yourself to be things that you are not. The moment
you identify yourself with your body, your thoughts,
your emotions, and many other things around you,
the thought process will be endless. People think
that is how the mind is. That is not how mind is, or
rather, that it is not how it is supposed to be. If you
constantly had a stomach ache, you would think
that is how the stomach is. Right from my infancy,
I always saw mountain peaks in the background of
my eyes – both in wakefulness and sleep. I thought
there are mountains in everyone’s eyes. Only when
I was 16, I found out that this is not so. But these
mountains were real. Since I could not talk about it
to anyone, I went searching these mountains [and
Sadhguru finally found Velliangiri, where he was
to establish Dhyanalinga]. Whatever is constantly
there, you consider as the natural state.
The brain is much more sensitive than other organs.
All other organs have specific functions, but the
1 Energy center on the top of the head; also known as “crown chakra”

brain has a few specific functions, and the rest is
left open. This is the problem of being human. Any
other creature has specific goals, nothing more. They
must eat well, grow well, reproduce well, and die
one day – everything is set. Only a human being is
wondering, “Why am I here? What is the nature of
my life? Where do I come from? Where do I go?” All
these questions only come up when you are human.
The difference between a human being and any
other creature is that in human beings, the cerebral
cortex and other parts of the brain have flowered.
You complain about a new possibility that has arisen
within you, a possibility that an ape, a monkey,
or any other creature does not have. Do not treat
a possibility as a problem. It is not a problem – it
is a possibility that you can sit here and think of
something that is 1000 miles away, 1000 years ago,
1000 years later, or whatever else. It has become a
problem for a lot of people because they have never
looked at the user manual. It is a man’s problem to
think somehow, if they scratch their head, it will
work. That is not the way it works.
First stop giving the brain bad food – feed it with
Truth, not untruth. We are in the hands of Truth. We
don’t have Truth in our hands. We have a complex
bunch of lies in our hands. If you keep down all the
things that you believe, all the things that you have
made up, you will see, if you sit here, your mind
could be simply empty. If it is empty, what is the
use? The use is it can reflect the whole cosmos.
Otherwise, it is quite comic. This is the choice – you
can make your mind into a comical place or a cosmic
space. For it to become a cosmic space, you must
keep all the lies down – then Truth will flourish by
its own nature. The absence of falsehood is Truth.
Only a fool will talk about what Truth is. One who
knows will only talk around it, because you cannot
talk about it. You can only define and describe that
which has some kind of substance, that which has
measurable parameters, or boundaries. If something
has no boundaries and no parameters, you cannot
talk about it. The whole work is about clearing the
mess you have created, not about establishing Truth.
There is no need to establish Truth. It is in the lap of
Truth that all of us exist.
I will not ask you to confess what thoughts you are
getting while doing your kriya. Do not be concerned
about your thoughts. Above all, do not try to stop
them. Let them happen like the activity of your
kidneys is happening. Not everything in your
kidneys is clean. Not everything in your brain is
clean either – what is your problem?
Do not discriminate between good and bad
thoughts. There are no good and bad thoughts –
there are just thoughts. Your thoughts depend upon
what kind of garbage you have – that kind of smell
will emanate. Today’s smell depends on yesterday’s
garbage. It depends on what you threw into the bin.
If you watched a movie yesterday or something else
happened, today, that will come back to you again.
Do not judge your thoughts – it is just rubbish.
First of all, they are not even real. A thought means
that it is not real. The largest part of who you are
is unconscious right now. You are making things
up all the time. If you want to know the nature of
creation and the Creator, it is important that you do
not make things up, which is what you are trying to
do right now. Trying to make things up is a hopeless
method.
If you try to maintain a continuous stream of
thoughts while doing your kriya, suddenly, they
will not come. Suddenly, you will get constipated
in the head. Do not bother about your thoughts.
Depending upon what is there inside today, thoughts
will flow. There is no significance or consequence to
this. You just need to do the kriya – do not do the
thoughts. Whether you try to remove them or to
have continuous thoughts or 108 sacred thoughts,
you are still trying to do the thoughts. The kidneys
will do their own thing; the liver will do its own
thing; the brain will do its own thing; you do the
kriya – that is all.
6 ISHA FOREST FLOWER January 2014

More Than a Man
Sadhguru on Adiyogi’s Contribution to Human Consciousness
The following is an excerpt from a meditators’
sathsang with Sadhguru in Mumbai on
15 November 2013.
Questioner: Namaskaram, Sadhguru. I heard you
are planning to create 21-feet Adiyogi statues across
the globe. What is the significance of this? I saw one
coming up in front of the Adiyogi Alayam at the
Isha Yoga Center. Are you planning to have one in
Mumbai too?
Sadhguru: It is up to you to plan what should
happen in Mumbai. If you have a plan for Mumbai,
I will tell you how to make it happen. About
manifesting Adiyogi in many parts of the world –
I have already spoken to some extent about how
the sapta rishis
1 went around the world. We have
compiled a huge amount of research information
on how 8000 to 12,000 years ago, there was linga
worship in South America, Turkey, and North
Africa, and snake worship all over the world – there
is archeological proof for that. Only over the last
maybe 20 centuries, this has been demolished and lost
in most parts of the world, but originally, the sapta
rishis’ influence spread across the planet. There is no
culture that did not benefit from Adiyogi’s science
of yoga. Yoga went everywhere – not as a religion,
belief system, or philosophy, but as methods. Over
a period of time, there have been distortions, but
still, unknowingly, over 2.5 billion people across
the planet are doing some yogic practice. This is the
only thing in the history of humanity that has lived
for so long without ever being forced upon people.
No one ever put a sword to anyone’s throat and
said “Do yoga! Otherwise, we will behead you.” No
force has ever been exerted to impose it, but still
yoga has lived for over 15,000 to 20,000 years, and
there has been no single authority to propagate it –
simply because the process is so effective. It has had
its highs and lows, but it is once again coming back
in a big way. However, there are sources today that
question the origin of yoga. Some even claim that
the yoga that is being taught today was extracted
from a European exercise system. There are attempts
to deny the acknowledgement of a certain culture
and of the one who has made the most significant
contribution to human consciousness ever.
Before I fall dead, I want to see that Adiyogi is
sufficiently acknowledged. These 21-foot-tall statues
of Adiyogi are part of this effort. After working on it
for over 2 1/2 years, we arrived at an image that we
are generally happy with. Now we are in the process
of manifesting that image. Each of these Adiyogi
statues will come with a structure of 111 feet by
111 feet and a 2 ½-feet tall consecrated linga. These
will be powerful energy spaces for meditation. The
first ones are coming up in North America – one
near the US Tennessee ashram [the Isha Institute of
Inner-sciences in McMinnville], one near San Jose,
one in Seattle, one in Toronto. Many other cities are
1 “Seven Sages” – Adiyogi’s first disciples

examining this possibility too. Our idea is to set up
50 in the United States – one for each state.
In India, such spaces will come up wherever
someone takes the initiative to make it happen. A
few people are also working towards establishing
112-feet-tall Adiyogi statues in four corners of
India. The government of Arunachal Pradesh has
invited us to establish one in their state, which is
the first part of the country to be touched by the
rising sun. It is my desire that the first sunlight in
India should fall on his face. Irrespective of caste,
religion, and gender, people should celebrate him
for the contribution that he has made to humanity –
not as a god but as a man who rose beyond all
limitations – he was everything that a man can be
and everything that a man cannot be. He was the
one who opened up this possibility for humanity
for the first time. He not only spoke about it – he
gave specific methods as to how to do it. No one
else before him or after him has made a greater
contribution to human consciousness.
Out of the other three 112-feet-tall Adiyogi statues,
we want one to come up in Uttarakhand, on the
way to Haridwar; one near Kanyakumari, and
another one in Rajasthan, near the border. In four
corners of the country, there will be large, iconic
Adiyogi statues that people cannot ignore. We are
also coming up with a book on Adiyogi. It is very
important to see him as a man – only then, there
will be a possibility of you striving to be like him.
Whether it is Krishna, Rama, Jesus, or someone
else – the moment you look at them as gods, you
don’t strive to be like them – that is the problem.
I want to constantly remind everyone that Adiyogi
was more than a man, but still very much a man.
Every human being is capable of this irrespective of
the backgrounds they come from, what they know,
and what they do not know. If they are willing to
do certain things, transcendence is a possibility
in everyone’s life. To make this a big statement
and acknowledge him as the one who offered the
science of yoga, we are thinking of setting up four
big statues in the country and in between as many
21-foot statues as we can.
Everything that I am is only because of this
particular science being available to us freely. If,
when I was young, they had imposed a restriction –
let’s say “If you want to do yoga, you must do Guru
Pooja” – I would have gotten up and left. If they
had told me to bow down or light a lamp, I would
have left. There were no such restrictions. There
were just instructions on what to do, and it worked.
I would not be who I am without the science that
Adiyogi has offered, which is 100% irreligious. He
predates all religion. Yoga is something so precious
for the modern world, because we are stuck with
the intellect. The problem I had in my youth –
that I couldn’t light a lamp, I couldn’t bow down, I
couldn’t enter a temple; if someone said one mantra,
I would go away – is a problem of the intellect.
The more the intellect is emphasized, the more
people will have this problem. When this problem
arises, yoga as a scientific approach is the only way.
Everything else will only divide people. And that
time is not far away for humanity. Before that time
comes, I want to see that Adiyogi’s name is uttered
everywhere and everyone knows that this science of
yoga is available. These statues will be 112 feet tall
because Adiyogi gave 112 ways a human being can
attain to the Ultimate. We want to simplify this and
offer you 112 things that you can do. Out of this,
you just have to do one thing. This will transform
your life in the simplest possible way.
Everyone who comes to an Adiyogi space can pick
from these 112 options the one thing they want to
do and start with a three-minute sadhana. Everyone
can invest three minutes. If it works for them, they
can gradually increase the duration to 6, 12, or 24
minutes. We want to establish this within the next
decade that irrespective of caste, religion, gender,
or physical condition – everyone will have a simple
spiritual process in their lives.
Whoever wants to stand up and make this
happen, please stand with us, because bringing
a spiritual process into people’s lives is one of
the most important contributions that we can
make to humanity.

Isha Hata Yoga
Sadhguru on How to Enhance Your Sadhana
This new series examines various aspects through which you can to take your hata
yoga practice to a whole new level.
Part 1: Getting Started – The Element of Water
Hata yoga is about creating a body that will not be
a hurdle in your life but a stepping stone towards
blossoming into your ultimate possibility. One simple
thing you can do to prepare your body before you
start your practice is to take a shower or a bath using
water that is a little cooler than room temperature.
If a certain volume of water flows over your body or
your body is immersed in water that is cooler than
room temperature, the epithelial cells will contract,
and the intercellular spaces will expand. If you use
warm or hot water, the pores of the cells will open
up and absorb water – that is not what we want.
For the practice of yoga, it is important that the
cells contract and the intercellular spaces open up,
because we want the cellular structure of the body
to be charged with a different dimension of energy.
If the cells contract and allow space in between,
practicing yoga will charge the cellular structure.
Why some people seem to be far more alive than
others is essentially because their cellular structure
is more charged. When it is charged with energy,
it will remain youthful for a very long time. Hata
yoga is a way to do that. In South India, tap water is
generally just a little cooler than room temperature.
If you are in a temperate climate, the regular
tap water may be too cold. Three to five degrees
centigrade below room temperature would be ideal.
A maximum of ten degrees centigrade below room
temperature would be acceptable – the water should
not be colder than that.
Whether you practice Asanas, Surya Namaskar, or
Surya Kriya – if you start sweating, do not wipe
off the sweat with a towel – always rub it back,
at least into the exposed parts of your skin. If you
wipe off the sweat, you drain the energy that you
have generated with the practice. Water has the
capability to carry memory and energy. That is
why you should not wipe off sweat with a towel,
drink water, or go to the bathroom during practice
time, unless there is a special situation that makes it
absolutely necessary. If the bladder is full, you will
work harder and get the fluid out through the rest
of the body. Then, learning to consume the right
amount of water will come naturally.

You will just drink as much as the body needs.
Unless you are in a desert or you have habits
that dehydrate you – such as the excessive
consumption of caffeine and nicotine – there is
no need to constantly sip water. About 70% of the
body is water. The body knows how to manage
itself. If you drink according to your thirst plus
an additional 10%, it will be enough. To give an
example – if your thirst is gone after two sips of
water, drink 10% more. That will take care of your
body’s need for water. Only if you are out in the
sun or trekking in the mountains, sweating heavily
and losing water rapidly, you need to drink more –
not when you are doing yoga under a roof.
As I already said, rub back the sweat as much as
possible, but you need not do that all the time. It
can drip a bit – just don’t use a towel. Push it back
because we don’t want to drain energy – we want to
build it up. After practicing yoga, wait a minimum
of 1 ½ hours before taking a shower – three hours
would be even better. Sweating and not showering
for two to three hours could be a bit of an olfactory
challenge – just stay away from others. [Laughter]
For more information on Isha Hata Yoga, please visit www.ishahatayoga.org

Leela Series
The path of the playful –
Part XLXI
No Black and White in Life
The following are excerpts from Leela, the path of the playful, a unique exploration with Sadhguru into
the mystical realm of Krishna, which took place at the Isha Yoga Center in September 2005
Questioner: If Krishna came to establish dharma,
why did he offer himself or his army to
Dhuryodhana?
Sadhguru: The situation around the Kurukshetra
war was such that no one could remain neutral.
You had to choose one side. Being the chief of
the Yadavas, Krishna also had to put his lot either
with the Pandavas or the Kauravas. Personally, he
did not want this war and would have preferred
to remain neutral, but that was not possible. He
had no hatred against Hastinapur. He did not
just choose Dhuryodhana; Bhisma, Dronacharya,
Kripacharya – many venerable leaders were on the
other side. He was not against them, and they had
huge respect for him too. Both with Dhuryodhana
and with the Pandavas, there was a distant blood
relationship. When a relative comes and asks your
help, a “no” would be difficult according to the
Kshatriya dharma.
There was Kshatra Tej, the dharma for the warrior
class, and Brahma Tej for the spiritual class. Krishna
tried to bring about some kind of alliance between
the Kshatriyas and the Brahmins. These guidelines
and rules were created for the society to function
smoothly. They said, a Brahmin must sit and study
the Vedas for a certain number of hours a day.
If the same dharma was enforced on a Kshatriya,
he may not be competent to do it, and if he did
this, he would not be a good administrator and
definitely not a good warrior. The same goes for
all the other classes. That is why they established
different types of dharmas for different categories
of people who had different duties to perform
in the society. But at some point, the Kshatriyas
started thinking only in terms of what is good
for them and their dharma without considering all
the others and their dharmas, which disturbed the
harmony in the society. Krishna and Vyasamuni
strived to bring Kshatra Tej and Brahma Tej closer
together so they could function as a cohesive force
for the benefit of all.
Since according to the Kshatra Tej, when a relative
comes and asks for something, you cannot say “no,”
Krishna gave them the choice between himself and
his army. From a military standpoint, an army is
definitely the better choice. Dhuryodhana believed
that taking the army was sensible, though he did not
get the first choice and was perturbed about that.
When given the choice, the Pandavas had said to
Krishna, “Whether we live or die – if we live, we
want to live with you. If we die, we want to die with
you. Without you, what will we do?” And that is
what made the difference for them.
Now, your question is, “If Krishna is standing for
dharma, how can he put his armed might on the side
of adharma?” He was not a moralistic person who
made black-and-white judgments about anyone. He
neither believed the Pandavas were absolutely pure
beings, nor that the Kauravas were absolute evil.
This is not the way he looked at life. He constantly
maintained a good relationship with the Kauravas.
Dhuryodhana’s wife Banumathi was a devotee
of his. He did not see the Kauravas as out and out
evil – he just saw that they were causing much evil
at that time and he would have liked to put an end to
that. This does not mean he held any kind of hatred
or anger against them, nor did he judge them as evil.
He saw that human beings are always a combination

of everything. That is why you have to strive to
establish dharma within yourself; otherwise, you
will become adharma. Any human being is capable
of becoming adharma any moment of his life. There
is no insurance that you will never fall into adharma.
You have to strive to be aware; you have to strive
to be on the righteous path, or else you will easily
slip off. This goes for every human being, until you
attain to such a level of consciousness where you
cannot fall anymore.
In many ways, Krishna tried to encourage
Dhuryodhana to strive for dharma. Even at that
point when he gave this choice between him and
his army, he still tried to avoid the war. In a
way, it was a very intelligent move to give the
army to Dhuryodhana. That way, Dhuryodhana
felt that Krishna is on my side, thinking the
Pandavas were fools to take one person instead
of a 100,000-men-strong army. This could have
been something for Dhuryodhana to latch on to
and bring peace, but it failed.
Become That
Questioner: Sadhguru, you have been talking about
three aspects – one is Krishna’s playfulness, the
second is inclusiveness, and the third is love and
devotion. I have three questions in this context.
First, how can one be playful without losing the
intensity that the practices have ignited? Second,
I increasingly tend to do the minimum for friends
and family. I just want to be on my own, or watch
my breath. I’m not sure what is meant by including
everyone. And third, I think the mind’s constant
over-activeness or judgment hampers love and
devotion. So how can these three aspects be applied
in day-to-day life?
Sadhguru: They cannot be applied – they can be
attained. They are not some kind of policies or tricks
that you apply in your life. You have to become that.
You have to become inclusion. You have to become
love. This is not something that you can do or make
use of. It is something that you surrender to. It is
something that you allow to burn you up. You are
no more important.
It is because you are still on the application level,
since you want to use something, that we gave you
practices. I wish we could abolish the practices in
the program. They are beautiful; they are definitely
sustaining forces for a human being, but people
evaluating the program and being there with me in
terms of a takeaway is stupid. That way, they will
not get anywhere. Maybe their health will improve,
but they will not know anything beyond that in
their lives.
There is nothing to apply. There is no take away.
Don’t try to be devout; don’t try to be loving; don’t
try to be inclusive. You cannot do that. You have
to become that. You cannot do love. Love is much,
much bigger than you. You can become a part of it.
There is no method to fall in love. When you don’t
make yourself important anymore, love will happen.
If you are too full of yourself, there is no possibility
of love in your life. You may know relationships;
you may know give-and-take, but you will not
know how to burn. If you don’t know how to burn,
you will have no light of your own.
THREE TRUTHS OF
WELL BEING
Available at all leading bookstores, amazon.com, flipkart.com,
ishashoppe.com, and Isha Inventory
(0422-2515415; inventory@ishafoundation.org).
Download the ebook at ishadownloads.com Hardcover
MRP Rs. 499
Publisher:
PENGUIN ANANDA

Room for Growth
Sadhguru in Conversation with
Fashion Designer Tarun Tahiliani
In a recent edition of the “In Conversation with
the Mystic” series, Sadhguru met with noted
fashion designer Tarun Tahiliani on 5 August 2013
in Delhi. Here is the fourth part of their
conversation.
Tarun Tahiliani: What is this essence that has kept
us together as Hindustan or Bharat? What has made
it special?
Sadhguru: Let’s say you are alone in this room.
Would your intelligence work better if I told you
everything about this room, how it is, how it should
be, how it can never be because it’s all God ordained,
or would it work better if I don’t tell you anything
about the room, I just leave you here for three days
so you can explore everything and find out for
yourself? Which way would your intelligence work
better?
Tarun Tahiliani: The second.
Sadhguru: Definitely. If you are in a state of
exploration and seeking, your intelligence would
work better. The sages of the past who consciously
crafted this culture saw that human ingenuity and
human intelligence will always be perky and sharp
only if you are a seeker. If you become a believer, it
will get blunted.
This is something the world could never
understand, that these people say “yes” and “no”
to the same thing.
Tarun Tahiliani: That’s what we do. We are not sure
if it’s “yes” or “no.”
Sadhguru: It is not that we are not sure. We know it
is “yes” and “no.” Right now, I will ask you a simple
question. You must tell me the answer.
Tarun Tahiliani: Oh my god! I am on the spot.
Sadhguru: You are. Are you a man or a woman?
Tarun Tahiliani: I have to think about it. I think I
am a man. I am conditioned as a man.
Sadhguru: No. I am asking you a direct question. Are
you a man?

Tarun Tahiliani: A man, yes. [Laughter]
Sadhguru: Yes. Now, the fact of the matter is you
are a man, but the truth of the matter is you exist
here because a man and a woman came together.
You being a man does not mean your mother is
absent in you. She is very much present. Similarly,
just because somebody is a woman, the father is not
absent; he is very much present. In India, we said
“yes” to both. People may think we are confused,
but actually, we are looking at it more profoundly.
If you only look at the surface, you may see someone
as a good guy or a bad guy. We never saw it that
way. We know no human being is 100%, 24 hours
good, or 24 hours bad. People vary.
Your focus should be how to get the best out of
everyone who is with you. If you create the wrong
situations, the best people will turn out to be the
worst. If you create the right situations, the so-called
worst will turn out to be fantastic human beings. If
you say this guy is a good guy or a bad guy, you are
looking at life as if it is a commodity. That is not
how life is. When we say “yes” and “yes,” it is not
out of confusion – it is out of a certain profoundness.
Tarun Tahiliani: I can see that. To go back to what
I was asking you about – what defines the spiritual
space that people recognize as Hindustan?
Sadhguru: This is a godless country. Tell me, who is
the god in this country?
Tarun Tahiliani: There are millions of gods.
Sadhguru: Yeah. Those millions of gods happened
when our population was that much.
Tarun Tahiliani: Each one had their own. So it is up
to 1.3 billion gods now?
Sadhguru: No, we lost our imagination somewhere
on the way. We became shy of creating gods because
other people laughed at us for having so many gods.
This is again an inferiority complex. We should
have been proud. “Yes, we have 33 million. What’s
the problem? We are very rich.” [Laughter] I am
one of the few who is continuing to create gods.
This idea that there is one god, looking like one big
human being – of course a man, not a woman –
[laughter] sitting up there and controlling the
whole universe, came up because they thought
existence is human-centric. We have never seen
it that way. We know we are just a small speck
in the universe, and tomorrow morning, if we
disappear, everything will be just as fine.
Tarun Tahiliani: Absolutely.
Sadhguru: We always said the planet is some billion
years old, and today scientists are proving it to you.
This is not a land that was based on morality. This
is the most beautiful way to live because morality
means persecution; morality means right and
wrong. Once we think in terms of right and wrong,
it is always who is right and you who is wrong. With
right and wrong, you create a prejudiced world. We
never looked at life in terms of right and wrong. We
always saw it in terms of every life having to find full
expression. That needs nurture. Like every plant, like
every animal, a human being also needs nurture –
both external nurture and also self-nurture.
This goes for every life on the planet – how great or
how puny it becomes does not depend upon whether
it is good or bad. It depends upon how much nurture
it finds from outside and from within. Because we
recognized this, no good and bad, no right and
wrong, no high and low were fixed. Everything was
left open. This is spirituality.
Through the Mystic Eye –
upcoming episodes on Headlines Today:
4 Jan 2014 Tarun Tahiliani
11 Jan 2014 Siddharth
Every Saturday 7 a.m.
(re-telecast Sunday 7:30 a.m.)

Leadership Insights
Bloomberg TV India Editor Vivek Law’s Interview with Sadhguru
During the recent Insight – The DNA of Success
program with Sadhguru and Dr. Ram Charan,
Bloomberg TV India Editor Vivek Law spoke with
Sadhguru on 24 November 2013 about his views
on business leadership and political leadership in
India today. The following is an excerpt of the
interview.
Interviewer: Let’s talk about leadership. You told
me once that the true test of a leader comes when
the chips are down. How do you see the leadership
of this country at this point of time – do you think
they are steering the country in the right direction?
Sadhguru: No, I don’t think anyone is steering the
country in any particular direction. We are a free
nation – free to go to our doom. This happened in
2008, when the global recession was just setting in.
At the World Economic Forum, the business leaders
of the developed nations were all in a depressive
mood, and the Indian team was campaigning “India
Everywhere.” Lots of great things were being said
about India by Indian officials, while the business
leaders were quiet.
I said, “It is really great that we are sitting at the
threshold of a possibility. Do not think of the
possibility in terms of monetary figures. The
important thing is, if we handle things right, in the
next 5 to 10 years, we can bring 500 to 600 million
people from one level of living to another. Hardly
any other nation has done this in 5 to 10 years’ time.
China managed to do so, but only with enormous
force. It would be phenomenal if we could achieve
this without employing force. Never before, 500
million people have moved forward economically
in one generation, just like that.
We are on the right track in many ways, but
especially when you are on the right track, if you
sit there for too long without moving ahead, you
will get run over. I have said this before – “Do not
underestimate our ability to goof things. We have a
history of that.”
Interviewer: And we goofed up again.
Sadhguru: As Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi used to say,
“We have a talent to snatch defeat from the jaws of
victory.”
Interviewer: And you are saying we have succeeded
in doing that?
Sadhguru: We have not yet succeeded – we are
heading there. Unless we take the necessary
corrective steps right now, we could unfortunately
go there.
Interviewer: Sadhguru, in the last one year, most
business leaders have had to grapple with enormous
cost-cuts because of our falling economy. They
have had to let go a lot of people. Many jobs were
lost – some documented, a lot undocumented. I
am sure this time around at Insight, you found far

more people with drooping shoulders than last year.
What would you tell business leaders who are going
through this process right now where things are not
really very good?
Sadhguru: Particularly about dropping people – I
know this may sound like an ashram-like solution,
but I don’t see why industries and businesses should
not function like this. If you have 1000 people
working for you and things are not going well,
instead of laying off 100 people to keep the company
going, you cut everyone’s salaries by 10%, and keep
these 100people. This is the time when, instead
of retrenching people, you could re-orient and
train your human resources to take on a different
challenge, but we are too bound by all kinds of laws.
I am sure if someone communicates this properly,
the workforce, out of sheer solidarity with their
colleagues, would agree to a 10% salary cut rather
than axing 10% of the workforce. These10% may
not be productive right now, but you can reinvent
your business if you train them to a different level of
capability, which is very much possible.
Whatever happens to you, you can either come
out stronger and wiser, or you can come out
depressed and broken. I wish the Indian business
sector reinvents itself. These times when business is
slowing down are an opportunity to sit back, look at
things, and innovate. When business is in full swing,
you neitherhave the time nor the energy to do
that. This is not to console yourself when things
are bad. Things will not remain bad for too long –
things will change. But when things change to
the positive, it should not take you another two
years to catch up. If you make use of this time to
reinvent yourself in different ways, you are ready
to go when the train picks up speed again, and you
will be the first one to latch on.
Interviewer: Let me ask you about the role of
political leaders. There is so much public discourse
right now. What is your message to the political
leaders of this country?
Sadhguru: The political leaders need to understand
that the people of India are not interested in your
grandmothers and grandfathers. What the people
of India are interested in is, “In what way are you
going to empower me as an individual citizen? In
what way is my life and that of the people around
me going to change? In what way will our children’s
lives be better tomorrow?” I have barely heard
anything like that in the political discourse. The
campaign is going on as if the elections were day
after tomorrow, but we don’t even know the date
yet. I think they should get back to work. A month
or a month and a half before election, theycan start
their campaign.

Insight – The DNA of Success
Second Leadership Program with Dr. Ram Charan and Sadhguru
“Insight – The DNA of Success” is a leadership
program offered by Isha Foundation’s Isha
Education initiative, which provides business
leaders with practical takeaways that multiply the
capability to manage both external situations and
inner growth. The second Insight program was held
from 23 to 26 November at the Isha Yoga Center,
with the participation of over 140 business leaders
and entrepreneurs.
The three-day practitioner-oriented program drew
upon the experience of several highly successful
business leaders who have built, grown, and led
large-scale enterprises. Along with Sadhguru,
Dr. Ram Charan, one of the world’s leading
business advisors, was conducting the program.
Dr. Ram Charan helped bring clarity to the art of
management and leadership, and lead several in-depth
sessions on topics such as decision-making,
absorbing ideas from others, finding the right
talent, and scaling up a business.
The external management aspects of the program
were balanced by the “inner management”
technologies that Sadhguru offers. The participants
were initiated into several yogic techniques that
bring health, vibrancy, and a sense of wholeness
to the body, mind, emotions, and energies. Several
resource leaders and participants noted this unique
feature of the program.
K.V. Kamath, Chairman of ICICI Bank, put it in a
nutshell: “What happens in this program is, we all
share our experiences in the business context and
Sadhguru shares his experience in the spiritual
context.” Sanjeev Bikhchandani, Founder and
Executive Vice Chairman of Naukri.com, whose
operational methods and corporate success were
analyzed during his discussion with Dr. Ram
Charan, shared with the participants that he was
truly honored to be a part of the program. Dr.
Prathap Reddy, Founding Chairman of the Apollo
Group of Hospitals reflected on the need to merge
modern healthcare with ancient knowledge such as
yoga to offer holistic and effective health solutions.
He urged the media to act as a unified voice to bring
this need to the government’s attention.
Other key leaders who shared their experience
and facilitated group sessions during the program
included: Harsh Mariwala, Chairman and Managing
Director of Marico Ltd.; Ravi Venkatesan, Former
Chairman of Microsoft India; Dilip Cherian,
Co-founder of Perfect Relations; Jeby Cherian,
Managing Partner, IBM Global Business Services,
India & South Asia; Dipak Jain, Former Dean of
INSEAD France and Kellogg School of Management,
Northwestern University, US; Prasoon Joshi,
National Award winning lyricist, screenwriter,
and advertising copywriter; Vellayan Subbiah,
Managing Director of Cholamandalam Investment
& Finance; Sachin Nigam, CRISIL’s SME ratings
business; Satish Pradhan, Advisor to Tata Sons Ltd.;
Rama Bijapurkar, Management & Market Research
Consultant; G. Ravindran, Co-founder, Leadership
Next, and Krishna Giri, Management Consulting
and Technology services.

Women in Business
Sadhguru Speaks at the Qatar International Businesswomen Forum
Sadhguru was invited as a speaker at the Fourth
Annual Qatar International Businesswomen
Forum, in Doha, Qatar, on 11 November 2013.
He spoke on “Inner Engineering – Technologies
for Wellbeing” to an audience of more than 800
participants, including the Minister of Energy
and Industry of Qatar, Dr. Mohammed Saleh Al-
Sada; Qatari Businessmen Association chairman
Sheikh Faisal bin Qassim Al-Thani; Qatari Business
Women Association vice-chairperson Aisha
Alfardan; other senior government officials, the
business community, experts in many fields, social
activists, representatives of the civil society, and
women business leaders. The conference, held at
the St. Regis Hotel, hosted speakers, panelists, and
delegates from the Gulf and the Arab world as well
as from Europe, the United States, Canada, Russia,
Malaysia, and Australia.
The following are highlights of the talk (excerpted
from Sadhguru Spot of 13 November 2013):
In many economic conferences I have attended,
there are those who refer to India as an emerging
market and think of how to exploit it. If you see it as
1.2 billion people, you would see how to serve them.
If you serve them, they will be your market, they
will be your resource, they will be your partners –
this is a more inclusive way of doing things and it
will be long-lasting. If you come and exploit me, I
will get rid of you the day I can get rid of you. If you
come and make me your partner, get involved in my
life, I will never want you to go.
The economy has to re-engineer itself to fit into
people’s lives. But right now, our idea of success
is being one step ahead of somebody else who has
already made a mistake. The economic model that
is being used in the world today has to be re-crafted
to serve humanity. This is the time to understand
and regulate commerce in such a way that it serves
human wellbeing and does not work against us.
In business or elsewhere – a leader can see what
others cannot. If you don’t see anything new, if you
don’t see anything fresh that others cannot see, for
sure you will become a subject of ridicule. The role of
women as business and economic leaders or partners
is a very important one. A woman has developed a
capability in herself to see what other eyes cannot
see. Vision is a very important part of being a leader.
And, because of technological advancement, the
physical strength of an individual does not matter
anymore. You can sit in your home and access the
world – everybody has the same access. We have all
the necessary resources and technology to address
every human problem.

Sadhana
“If you look up in the sky, the biggest presence out there is a vast emptiness.
This nothingness is referred to as ‘Shiva,’ or ‘that which is not.’ This huge
body of ‘that which is not’ has a few limbs – a galaxy, a star, a solar
system, a planet, an atom, or maybe you. All these are limbs of Shiva,
because everything has come from nothing. Without being connected to
the nothingness in the Universe, you cannot exist. You are a limb of Shiva.
The Shivanga sadhana is designed to bring this into your awareness.”
- Sadhguru
Shivanga is an intense 42-day vrata (period of
sadhana) for men, which was devised by Sadhguru
to explore deeper levels of experience in body,
mind, and energy.
The next Shivanga vrata begins on 15 January, a
pournami (full moon day), with an initiation into
Shiva Namaskar, which will be offered in various
cities in India and abroad. This period of sadhana
culminates on Mahashivarathri (27 February)
at the Isha Yoga Center, with an offering to
Dhyanalinga and a yatra to the peaks of Velliangiri
– also known as the “Kailash of the South” – a space
of tremendous power and energy.
For inquiries about the initiation, please contact your nearest center:
India
Tamil Nadu
Chennai: 89399 54562
Trichy: 90809 62297
Madurai: 94426 08738
Erode: 93619 33033
Metros
Delhi: 88605 31110
Mumbai: 98200 58361
Bangalore: 74061 10110
Goa: 98221 00305
United Kingdom
+44-7884253438
praveen.atmakur@ishafoundation.org
United States
+1-505-217-6225
nsri1985@gmail.com
For general inquiries about the sadhana,
please contact:
+91-83000 15111
shivanga@southkailash.org

Program Highlights
Date Program Place Contact
2–5 Jan 2014
Inner Engineering
Retreat
Residential Program
Isha Yoga Center,
Coimbatore – India
0422-2515421
maa.karpoori@ishafoundation.org
8–14 Jan 2014 Inner Engineering
Noida,
Delhi – India
88268 91638
delhi@ishayoga.org
12 Jan 2014
Mystic Eye – Meditation,
Wisdom and Bliss
Conducted by Sadhguru
Singapore
+65-61004064
singapore@ishayoga.org
18–19 Jan 2014
Guruvin Madiyil
(Tamil)
Residential Program
conducted by Sadhguru
Isha Yoga Center,
North Zone: 83000 11000
West Zone: 83000 52000
East Zone: 94425 04687
South Zone: 83000 66000
23–26 Jan 2014
Inner Engineering
Retreat
Residential Program
Isha Yoga Center,
0422-2515421
5–8 Feb 2014
Shoonya Intensive
Residential Program
Isha Yoga Center,
0422-2515300
6–9 Feb 2014
Inner Engineering
Retreat
Residential Program
Isha Yoga Center,
0422-2515421
12–19 Feb 2014
Samyama
Residential Program
Isha Yoga Center,
0422-2515300
20–24 Feb 2014
The Inner Way
Residential Program
Isha Yoga Center,
90040 57169
innerway@ishayoga.org
20–26 Feb 2014
Yaksha
A Celestial Feast
of Music and Dance
Isha Yoga Center,
83000 83000
info@yaksha.info
27 Feb 2014
Pancha Bhuta Aradhana
In the Presence of
Sadhguru
Isha Yoga Center,
94878 95878
pba@ishafoundation.org
27 Feb 2014
Mahashivarathri
In the Presence of
Sadhguru
Isha Yoga Center,
83000 83000
mahashivararathri@ishafoundation.org
These programs are conducted in English, unless indicated otherwise. Current at the time of print, however subject to
change. For full program schedules and updates, please visit our website: www.ishafoundation.org.

Isha Recipes For Healthy Living
Drumstick Soup
Ingredients
2 Drumsticks
1 handful Drumstick blossoms (optional)
1 handful Drumstick leaves
1 small Tomato
1 teaspoon Butter
½ teaspoon Cumin seeds
1 cup Dal stock (preferably split mung dal,
boiled with water until soft)
Salt to taste
Black pepper to taste
Preparation Method
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Wash the drumsticks; trim and chop them into finger-long pieces. Place in a pan with
2 cups of water and boil until soft. Squeeze out the pulp or scoop it out with a spoon. Keep
the pulp aside. Discard the woody parts. Put the pulp in a mixer and blend until smooth.
Chop the tomato into small pieces.
Heat the butter in a pan and add the cumin seeds. When they splutter, add the drumstick
blossoms, drumstick leaves, and tomato.
Add the dal stock and allow it to boil.
Cook until the mixture is homogenous, stirring continuously.
Add the drumstick pulp and mix well. Add salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.
“Drumsticks” as a vegetable are the immature seed pods of Moringa oleifera, a fast-growing,
medium-sized, drought-resistant tree that is native to the Himalayan foothills and today widely
cultivated in tropical and sub-tropical areas from Asia to Africa and Latin America. Drumsticks
are high in vitamin C, and a good source of dietary fiber, potassium, magnesium, and manganese.
Drumstick leaves are highly nutritious not only for their protein content – they are also packed
with beta-carotene, vitamin C, calcium, potassium, and iron. Make sure to chew the leaves well
to assimilate the maximum amount of nutrients.

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Published from 117/50, Luz Church Road, Mylapore, Chennai – 600 004 and
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The future is awoken
by the intensity of the present
and the wisdom of the past
It is in these times Three
Is rooted the eternal tree.

Isha forest flower jan 2014

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