Ishanga

Well I first got involved with Spirituality via Eckhart Tolle's book "New Earth" that exposed me to my ego, but he's sort of boring to watch and he has no real method to share, with Sadhguru is not really about him, its the method he shares, I like methods and systems of things,this come from my Martial Arts days and the style I learned which is very systematic and practical, plus he explains things logically and simple which is attractive to me as well, I haven't seen anyone yet that matches his way of explaining complex spiritual things, but here I am on Leo's forum site, via Me watching his video's lol, if I was so obsessed with Sadhguru I wouldn't be watching Leo's stuff or used to watch..Plus I posted a video last week with Swami Sarvapriyananda, and I also like to watch Sri M's stuff and another guy Forrest Knutson who's an American Kriya Yogi, I watch all kinds of stuff, and learn, but when it comes to experience and Reality Sadhguru is my guy, I consider myself a Disciple of his:)

I think this is super important, because Sadhguru always has a way to simplify complex things and put it into words and metaphors that can be easily understood for the Everyday Person! Here with Cosmologist Bernard Carr, he explains the beginning of Everything via the Yogic sciences, its super simple, but he goes from explaining what was there before the Big Bang, and then how things went from there.. This is not meant to give You the answers to everything, just a simple intellectual understanding, then with the knowing that You are this, I can experience this, with enough Sadhana (Spiritual Work) put into, at the Minimum I can have a Stress Free Life, be Happy and Health as a Natural Consequence not as an accident or the opposite affect which many are suffering from in today's world.. Forget Enlightenment, Forget Your notions of God, Infinity, Eternity, if You are not Peaceful in Your Experience every moment of everyday no matter what is happening, then those things will not be in the Possibility of Your Experience, so take care of the Basics first, then see what happens from there.. I've timestamped it to the part of the conversation where Sadhguru starts to explain Creation and then Bernard starts to respond to it!! Enjoy:)

If I may:) Spirituality is not about "Learning", if anything its about "Unlearning", everything that has been taught to You, your beliefs and conditioning, and its the same with Martial Arts, me as a coach its not about the talking and intellectualizing of what to do when someone does this or that, its about me showing them the training methods, making sure they are doing it correctly then them doing it and getting it via that method, it ingrains into their neurological system, no matter who they are.. Its the same with a true Guru, they will answer your questions up to a point, sooner or later they will put You on a specific Sadhana, for some it is a breathing method (Pranayama), or a posture, or a way to develop space btwn You and Your Mind/Thought patterns, things that allow Realization to come forth naturally, as well via their presence and if you are physically close to them via their ambiance Your energies move differently, your Clarity is richer and your Awareness rises, you cannot get this from books and videos and intellectual knowing, sorry to say:) As well, Truth is not about Knowing, its about Experiencing, You, Me, Everyone is Truth in their essential essence, it just a matter of Are You Realizing this or not (if You are in Realization of the Truth You are, then no more stress, no more caring about what other ppl think, ego no more, Bliss and Peace is natural for U), not about knowing or not knowing truth, since You are Truth what is there know?

Truth is the only Authority, Authority is never the Truth, a real Guru will help You discover the Truth for Yourself, not via beliefs, teachings, videos or any intellectualize of any sort, but by sharing methods for You to use and find out for Yourself, if you go on your own, which is also a way, it just may take allot longer and more trial and error which can lead to more suffering in the process, anyone that say otherwise is not wise imo:) Its like telling ppl they don't need a coach or trainer for a boxing match or ufc fight, "Just do it all on your own" yes this can work but you will go thru lots of pain and suffering for it lol:)

Yes exactly, that is why he doesn't like to talk about things like God, Death, or Infinity and such things too too much, because in the end its just a story for You, it may be true for him but for everyone listening its a Story which forces you to either Believe or Disbelieve, which is something he doesn't want anyone to do.. Basically just try the program, if it works keep on using it, if not drop it and never lay eyes/ears on him again, his words not mine:)

When it comes to Life itself, and our ability to Realize Life in a real experiential way on a daily basis, You have to establish a stable base Emotionally (no stress response) and Energetically, so that everyday no matter what Your Peaceful/Blissful of Your own nature, this is not intellectual in any sense. Then Life will open up to You in tremendous ways, Enlightenment if that is what You want will be in Your grasp, just find a method that gets you there.. In regards to Money and such, Master of One is the way, find something and Master it, then from there learn supplementary skills to back it all up. Stallone wrote and starred in Rocky, he tried in the 90's to get out of that stereotype and try comedy and drama but it didn't work, so he went back to action and things that he is a master at, Bruce Lee the same things, stick to what Your best at, but learn other minor skills along the way...

Hey I answered mostg of this in the other post:) Obsession is good for a period time, it get the momentum going, I've been obsessed with 3 things in my life, Tennis, Martial Arts and Now Yoga/Spirituality, all of them have gotten me to a certain Realization, I have more realization to go but its good that one goes this way for awhile.. Just saying but today's ppl are mostly only obsessed with their phones, what other ppl are doing and sharing opinions on what other ppl are doing, this is not healthy imo... What are You to do? Just get a practice going, stick with it for at least a year, work on a stable base of emotional and energetic stability, once that is in place, your energies will rise in intensity and your on your way, you won't want to be on here daily posting and reading as You are now (just my observation of Yourself), I mostly come for entertainment, I still have a body/mind/ego complex, it doesn't dominate me but its still there, resisting is no good, just let things come out naturally and disappear naturally...

Many ppl nowadays get their information and in this case spiritual guidance from multiple sources, in My Opinion this is a big No NO! I learned this in Martial Arts, and it applies to most things, if You really want to get somewhere pick one source and stick with it, give it a good Year of dedication and commitment, otherwise Your not really getting anything by picking up a bit from here or there, it doesn't work like that, the Quality won't be there, some like Sadhguru and feel it, others don't, even he says the ones that don't like him on some level are the ones he is after because it will work better for them!

For me in the beginning of this serious seeking on the spiritual path for sure I was obsessed with Sadhguru, read everything, watched everything, then after a year or two I did the program and that itself lead to Realizations, now I don't watch so many of his vids because I've heard it all before, this one not as much how he explains creation, but since this is a forum, and we are using logic/language I thought to share it, it may transform someone it may not, it depends on the individual, but we need super powerful ppl like him to be here on this Earth, it balances out the karmic aura per say.. It should be clear, what You see of Sadhguru in the public sense, youtube vids, books and such, and I'm sure there are others, is not even 1% of what he is offering, he himself has said he has offered less than 1%, only a few ppl on the planet know what the Real is with this guy, but he has to be available to the general public so that ppl become interested and change happens on this planet, so he has "Consciously" created this sort of personality we all see in the vids, but if he lets all of that go, its super intense just by the presence, its not him as a person or personality, but simple a presence!

define energy? once You define it you make it finite and then it can be destroyed, this is the problem with language and trying to explain Spirituality, non physicality and us experiencing it, it just goes round and round, we have to get past so many things (bias, conditioning, beliefs, things we heard...)

@James123 Ppl have found "themselves" call it soul, call it life, call it whatever, but they can never prove it to someone else lol, that is a lousy way to want to know via someone else having to prove it too you, and then giving them a reward, all you can do with that is either believe or disbelieve and that puts you further away from actually knowing:) All one can do it look at someone, and see if what they are doing is useful for You, I look at Sadhguru, he's on 24/7 and has been for over 30yrs, he has something going on, seems very happy and blissful too, so I want that, I just look at the evidence that's all!

So what is this to mean? I am not the Body or Mind or Ego, or anything my Intellect has identified with (Class, Sex, Wealth or lack of, etc), the Body Mind is something I have here to use as a tool, it exists for real on a certain level, to deny that is denying that you are reading a post, thinking a thought or reaction to it, and responding using a device...

@Someone here Yes in some sense You are correct, but existence has levels to it, on the earthly body/mind complex level time exists, but its not literal, its found in memory and imagination, when it comes to the Absolute as You are talking about, even a Million years for us humans in infinity, but in math it is not, so its all relative and subjective, time is experienced subjectively, so depending on your present experience of life time may be appearing to go by fast or slow...Just because there is no time, as only Now exist, doesn't mean memory is illusionary or that it what happened in the past/things we remember didn't happen, they just happened in the past, subjectively that event whatever it is doesn't exist now, subjectively only Now exist..Objectively things happened, your Birth, My Birth, creation of the countries we live in, wars, suffering/death, great pleasures at a new chance and change in circumstances for many, all the way back to the supposed Big Bang.. In Spirituality, in my experience/research there are two basic methods of understanding, there it Top Down method, like what You are saying it seems, Only Absolute Exists, everything that is impermanent (Body, mind, material things, planets, solar systems, etc, everything that has a cycle attached to it) does not really exist because its impermanent, then there is the Bottom Up method, Yoga for eg, you start from where You are at, You don't think about or discuss Soul, God, Creation, Infinity and such things, You just bring Peace to your Experience as a natural occurrence, then go from there, with that comes more Clarity and Perception and things get more Intense and more potential arises...

Love is two becoming One on the emotional level, experienced only within You, via chemical reactions in the brain. Love means two, loving yourself is egoic, are there two of you within? So be Loving, via Blissful experience within Yourself naturally created...

Yes in the fundamental, absolute state Yes You are correct, that is the state before the big bang and such events, but then the big bang happened or supposedly did and from that "Creation" happened, this is a step below what You are describing and what Sadhguru describes, a billion years later, here we are using phones or computers to chat with one another on a internet forum, how do You deny this when You are answering a question on it right now? Infinity is infinity, it cannot be discussed or understood, what we are is that, but we are here with a body and mind complex to use in this sort of material physical existence on the planet called Earth, so there are levels to it... Also, the use of the words time and infinity are oxymoron's, they cannot be used together, as time is not infinite.. Time in the purest reality does not exist, space exists and because of that time is there,,,but in our human reality all there is is Now, past is memory, future is imagination, both do not exist in the Now.,..

I think that for the most part, sooner or later, anything that starts out as a healthy and empowering idea and/or method when it catches on and creates momentum and popularity, with ppl joining in one big place and small places around the world the quality of it dissipates. I saw this in Martial Arts, I was a teacher, first at my Sifu's school in my hometown (had 75 students at one time), then at the headquarters in another city (200+students), we were not a big organization but associated with one, Sifu eventually quit that organization and started his own, but I found that we had to modify the teachings so that everyone could learn something to make things easier (compared to what and how I learned in the previous generation) and we offered activities outside of the strict style we were teaching, so the place became a Mc Dojo, afterwards I quit that organization, taught on my own, and then travelled to learn another system, which was in a place that was a persons backyard and it was 10ppl or less there at anyone time training, this blew me away with how high quality it was...just using this as an example.. Isha is the best Spiritual Org I can see, I'm involved with them, not very active with them right now, but have volunteered...On the polar opposite of this sort of thing is what Osho created, I like Osho as a Spiritual Influencer, but what happened at his ashram was pretty crazy lol, at Isha its very professional, and intimate and high quality, for some of their programs you cannot just sign up and enter into it, there is a screening process in place.. Don't ever forget, once you or anyone gets on a large scale of things world wide, someone or some ppl will want to bring You down big time, what happened to Jesus is just a prime example, its still happening today, they just don't crucify you, they do other things, be wary of this!

@Jannes just chiming in:) I would say that anyone that has had a "High State of Consciousness" experience, would come back and look at "Teachings" like a top level Physicist would react to going back to kindergarten and what they are teaching kids, Teachings are not there to give You the experience, there there to peek your curiosity, so you begin to seek to go thru the sadhana needed so that You too have the Experience of a High Level of Consciousness.. Many Enlightened Individuals have said in their experience coming back to normal life takes some work, most of them have to consciously create karma to be able to hold onto the body to be here on this earth, to do some sort of work or whatever, just imagining experiencing things way way beyond the typical eat, sleep, work, reproduce/family life cycle lol, its ridiculous really, but the key is not not be into that sort of thing, just make yourself Happy and Healthy first, get that down, make it an absolute (its not done via the intellect or teachings) then go from there, see what arises within You, if if Enlightenment is in your potential it will manifest itself naturally:!

Using the label or language of "Dream" is a misnomer, Life is not a Dream, its a Real possibility, You as a Human Being are capable of Realizing It in its True Form and Experience, You have Free Will. Find a way to get rid of the crap that is within You, that is not allowing You to Realize Reality as it is, when You Realize Reality as it is, the side benefit is Bliss, Sat Chi Ananda, Bliss is not the the goal of Spiritual practice or Spirituality (which is realizing the reality beyond its physical nature) but the basic foundation upon which a Human Being can experience it in it Totality, Dreams have nothing to do with it, is bad use of terminology!

You/We cannot discuss or intellectually "Understand" things like Infinity/Eternity, this is synonymous with Using labels like God, Source, Brahman, Shiva (meaning That which is not), so no use in bring it up as a topic and asking for answers and understanding. How do You use logic, which communication is based on, to discuss or study something that is non physical, beyond dimensions, and concept? One of the problems here and on other spiritual forums is this idea of making Spirituality, Consciousness, Enlightenment a Subject to Study, once You do that, wanting to know the answers (which are really just stories ppl tell you, then you have two choices either to believe or disbelieve which puts you further away from Reality) then more and more questions are the result, your getting more and more Intellectually identified, and further away from actual Knowing which is Experiential, not intellectual.. The only thing You can do is make Yourself Available to it all, then it will come to You in Experience, not to share or teach, but to just live to your Highest Potential and Possibility..

When using language as we are here, we cannot talk/write about things like Consciousness, no matter what any says including what You say, its all limited "Notions' because language is based on Logic, Consciousness has nothing to do with Logic on its fundamental level, so in essence we are talking "Around" it. Absolutism in the context that we cannot come to the understanding that I am "Only" this Consciousness, yes we are Consciousness, but we have a Body and Mind to use, at the same time this Body/Mind are a part of this Consciousness too, so that is why its a paradox... In fundamental terms I am Everything, Everything is Me, yes, but there are levels to it, on the level of existence on this planet while embodied in a individual Body/Mind complex I am not everything, lol, so this is why we are here as Humans, we can experience and be in both worlds, Unlimited, disembodied, I am Everything/Everything is I Experience, then in the next hour be cleaning our house, going for a walk in the park and expressing, creating, experiencing via 5 senses and such things, that is the beauty of it, we are not just the Everything I experience.. All we have is our Subjective Experience, and all there is is Now, Now is all that exists, past or future does not exist in this reality, only in our memory and imagination, so in a way Experience is absolute Truth, but are we having the Truest Experience, if One is then they will experience as Ecstasy, unbelievable pleasure of great intensity, as you have in some of your videos when You were high on 5 meo..when not in the Truest experience we fluctuate, up/down emotions and thought patterns which come from not being Aware of Truth in moment to moment experience.. Again we have to bring it down to the level of which most of us are coming from, the Individual Ego, Body/Mind complex, so its relevant on that level, not the absolute level imo:)

On one level You are correct, everything is a part of everything else, there is a connection of course, but body and mind are accumulated, no food then no body, no 5 sense then no what we call as mind (data, thinking process, ego, memories, etc... of course mind is other "things" but generalizing here), so there is a paradox at play. What we have to be careful of is Absolutism. And we have to come from the same definition of words, Consciousness for me is Grand Intelligence, Intelligence that is not laced with memory, its always there, responsible for everything and is the essence of everything material and non material, that is our true essence, within that we have accumulated/gathered a body via food eaten, Earth Body, and Mind via our 5 senses bringing in data and an ingrained intellect that allows us to put it all together. organize it for some sort of way of functioning within this world and society... Having Space btwn what we are and what we are not is crucial! Just because we experience something does not mean it is Us, its just an experience we are having, most of it is derived from past memories and our inner most unconscious desires, which more than likely are conditioning put into via the society we are living in.. We are inputting so much data everyday we cannot consciously be aware of it, most of it is not within our Awareness, but it manifests in our lives in many ways, in the East they call this Karma, Vasana/Samara is just the result of this Karma playing out in your life that you are mostly unaware of, which some may call Maya or Illusion, which is somewhat true, if You will fully Realized of what Your Nature is (I am Consciousness) then all of this would be nothing for You to handle, life here would be a game of sorts to play with, and when You don't want to play anymore You leave... Being Fully Aware is what makes all of this happen, once Fully Aware (have access to conscious, unconscious, subconscious mind, karma in place and being created, illusion of time, how this body and mind work, etc) then Realization happens spontaneously, but can one be fully Aware, and if not why Not, that is why Sadhana, Accepting Now, Living Now, Responding to Now, these are just the simple tools that allow us to get thru the crap and dirt we created unconsciously and can Realize Reality that we are..

@Buck Edwards Like others has said, its been an Up an Down emotional rollercoaster of sorts...There are small amounts of time where I think maybe it would be great to be super ignorant about life and things, but in my everyday life I see lots of ignorant ppl doing stupid things and then I come back to my senses and am glad that I've had an inner awakening. Ignorance is Bliss only until life hits You hard then You know the truth of the matter.. Sadhguru says when on the Spiritual path, life will go fast forward for You, especially if You want to go all the way within this life time, so what happens to most ppl in 2, 3 or 4 lifetimes can happen to You in this one, in 25 yrs or less, and then there is the Karma that we have to deal with and at the same time stop creating more, so that is why the basics have to be taken care of first, establishing a base experience of Peace or Bliss first, no matter what is going on in or around You, Your Peaceful of Your own nature (accept all the is, Live Now totally, Respond vs Reacting takes care of this), then once that is established You can go fast forward on the spiritual path and not be worried about "What about Me", if Your concerned about Yourself then it won't work... So in the beginning for me, once I started some serious Sadhana, it was very happy/blissed out and full of energy, then things in life happened, ppl in my family passed away, and disappointments happened, and it does affect one's inner state, but I don't stay in those lower states very long, I think all the sadhana and studying has something to do with that, generally I'm happy go lucky, easy to forgive, I'm generous and naturally kind to ppl and wish them all the best for their lives, but I want more for myself regarding my inner experience and making it more stable, intense and blissful, then seeing where it takes my from there..Some times the feeling of not wanting to experience the Human experience comes over me, like I have been thru this cycle too many times before, but I have no specific memories of past lives...

Since Consciousness is non physical, beyond logic, we can only talk "Around" it, it like trying to grasp or hold air with Your hand, you know air is there but you cannot grasp or hold it. So on this level of communication, Consciousness is grand Intelligence, just think of what was there before the Big Bang, its a no thing but for language purposes its a "something". again this is in a non physical/material state okay.. From this something happened, energy was born, cycles were born, karma was born, and from all of that, billions of years of evolution, we are here on this spinning planet, that is moving thru space which has no end or no beginning as far as our science can tell us (does anyone know the where the edges of the universe start or end?), talking about this foolishness, lol. What You essential are is this Consciousness, Awareness is not this, Awareness is just how much of it do You Realize You are, if You Realize fully that You are this Consciousness then we call You "Enlightened" and via that experience that You have You don't live like a normal Human Being that is all about Sleeping, Working, Eating, Reproducing and Dying one day...While here on this Earth, You have a Body, Mind, Ego to use to function, earn a living, function in a society, but none of this is what You are, this is what You can Do from an outside perspective. The key thing is your Inner Experience, are You determining it or are You a Slave to outside situations, Fix that then Enlightenment is in Your grasp at any one moment... Here Sadhguru with Cosmologist Bernard Carr, explains the Creation of the Universe via his own perspective, its simple and brilliant!

Find a Guru, this is why they exists, I found Sadhguru, he talks about these 112 methods to Realization, it was Shiva/Adi Yogi who taught that there are 112 ways, for eg Buddhism is just 1 way, there are 111 more. Don't try to do it yourself, anyone saying otherwise is giving You bad advice, because experimenting is only going to make You go thru trial and error, why do that when You ppl have been doing it for thousands of years and have passed methods down that work, if you do it on your own, it probably won't happen in this life time, if that is okay with You then go for it alone, otherwise find a Guru...

@Edvard Since i have no real knowing, I do not consciously remember past lives or events, even if I did how would I know it was me or true, it could all be imagination, but on a logical intellectual level, it makes sense to me that reincarnation is a real possibility... You don't remember past lives and events simple to save You the grief or shame or other disempowering emotions, its natures way of giving you a clean slate in a way, not a totally clean slate but a chance to start over, if you had access to all the event of your past lives I bet 99% of the ppl would not be able to function in daily life.. Ppl today have a hard enough time get thru THIS LIFE's past events, never mind possibly 100's or 1000's past lives events, so its best to Live Now, focus on NOW, as that is where LIfe Exists, You are Life, but its okay to investigate into it and see what comes up, just don't put too much time or effort into reincarnation or trying to bring up past lives memories or events, it could seriously make life worse for You if you have not established a stable base of emotions and energy situations within Yourself!