Sadhguru: Namaskaram. Namaskaram to all of you. In
a long time I'm having a group of people in front of me
(Laughter). I’ve been only seeing microorganisms (Laughs). You're the first big organisms I'm seeing
in a long time (Laughs). Namaskaram to all of you wherever you are. Here we are in Los Angeles. Well, Pacific Time 5:30 in the morning. Wonderful to see a tennis court full of people,
maintaining social distance except these two (Laughs). I get you. Already infected, so it’s okay (Laughter). Well, as you know, the virus dance is on across
the world, particularly in United States and India. Still nearly a thousand deaths per day. In many places, slowly, the medical infrastructure
is getting overwhelmed, many parts of the world including India, and above all, the
medical personnel of doctors and nurses and others, after nearly six months, they're just
exhausted of what is demanded of them. I know many doctors in India had not gone
home… gone home for up to two months, because if they went home, in the apartment buildings,
other people are protesting, “You're bringing this stuff into the housing,” and also the
risk of their own families getting it. So they've been staying in hotel rooms, and
going to hospital. It's been a very hard time for people who
are on the front line. And common people, all of us, if we don't
cooperate and see that the number of people infected is minimal – if you don't do that,
I don't know when they'll throw their hands up and say, you know, “Manage yourself a
little bit” (Laughs). Because it's becoming too much for many of
them, endlessly fighting this. About one hundred and forty doctors had died
about a month ago in India, being overexposed to the virus. So, these are times which are really testing
how conscious and how responsible we can be. Because we are the carriers, not some other
organism. If it was some other organism, we would talk
about how to exterminate that organism, how to poison them, how to chemically bomb them,
do something, but it’s us who are the carriers. So it's a nice challenge, it’s a terrible
challenge but nice challenge for all of us to prove that we're human. When I say to prove that we are human, this
is the only creature who is referred to as a being. So the first quality of who we are is we know
how to be. Hello? You agree with me? Participants: Yes. Sadhguru: You know “How to be?” Participants: Yes. Sadhguru: Wonderful (Laughs). But “How to be?” has been the human challenge. People are struggling how to be, not just
because of virus, even otherwise, just how to be. Everybody was complaining, a whole lot of
people at least not everyone, about how they have loved ones at home and every day they
have to leave them and go to that stupid office and endure that boss and the work. Now suddenly, they're home. Now mental pandemic is rising. What happened (to?) ‘The home sweet home’ business (Laughter)? So, problem is most human beings do not know
how to be, wherever you put them, there, there is struggle. In the workplace struggle, home struggle,
on the streets struggle, everywhere struggle. Because the struggle is within the human being. Situations come and go all kinds. Compared to the type of situations other generations
of people have faced, this is really nothing, if you ask me. Hello? Huh? We were not there when the World War II happened;
we were not there when the asteroid hit United… North America. Hello? Just the virus. You shouldn't sneeze in anybody's face. Simple. Hello? Let's maintain some distance. How difficult it is. And the statistics say, some of the studies
are showing seventy percent of the people who get infected, they're not giving it even
to one more person, it’s stopping with them. But ten percent of the people are giving it
to ninety percent of the infections are because of them. So this is a great mark sheet for human beings,
that seventy percent of the people are responsible people. Tch, wonderful, isn't it? But this ten percent superstars – no, no,
they're super-spreaders (Laughs). Oh, we are not able to teach anything to them
(Laughs). So that's where we are. And as others aspects of life take over – well
in America, it's the election; in India, it's the economy; in another place, it's something
else – as it takes over, the virus news is slowly moving to the background, like it
did with so many other ailments. You know, I don't know how many million people
have died of tuberculosis in the last century, how many million have died of malaria in the
last century or in recent times, dengue, chikungunya, bird flu, swine flu, whatever, whatever, whatever
and the regular influenza in America. We kind of accepted that, but the important
thing is, they came up with some kind of a treatment protocol. I think that's what is the most important
thing, responsible behavior and in case we get infected, there is an effective treatment
protocol. This is what needs to happen. But of course, everybody is looking for a
magic wand called vaccine that we do it and everything will be fine. No, no. That's not how it's going to work. Because this is a kind of thing that can endure. It's not like flu, it's just passing. This is a kind of thing that can endure. You can take a vaccine today and two months
later, anyway, you may get the infection once again, it’s very much possible two or three
months later. So, well if they come up with a magic wand
solution, it’s fantastic. But by the time the magic wand touches all
the human beings on the planet, there could be a whole new… new cycle going on. So the magic wand is responsible behavior. Hmm, conscious behavior. And all of you… all of you looking so pretty
with this. How much money you must be saving on the makeup,
lipstick, this, that, the works. I'm sure economy, personal economy is improving,
and companies may be suffering (Laughs). Those of you who were never smiling, this
is a good thing (Laughter). Well, as you know, we've been traveling to
various parts of America, particularly touching all the Native American cultural centers and
reservations, but unfortunately, most reservations are under some kind of lockdown, because that
population is quite badly affected by the virus. And most of the elders in the… in the tribes
or in the nations are over in their late seventies or eighties. So meeting them has been a challenge. So even there we are going on Zoom calls and
Google Hangouts and not really physically meeting them. It's unfortunate though, we're going to those
places, we are not able to meet most people that we should have met. But, passing through some parts of America
has been very a powerful experience. We will be exploring these dimensions and
putting it out. It will take some time. But I was at the Bryce National Park – how
many of you been to Bryce and Zion? Oh, no, no, no. These are must see. This is… this is a super-tremendous phenomena,
natural phenomena, but incredible. Those people who read textbook science and
think they got it, you know, there are many people who read a high school science textbook
and they think they know the universe. And today eight-year old, ten-year old kids,
they're on their phone and they think they know the entire cosmos. I think an exposure to this kind of natural
phenomena is good, at least it'll confuse you. Confusion is a very good thing, because people
have been fed upon religions, philio… philosophies and ideologies of absolutism, “This is it.” “This is it,” is the dumbest thing to
say. Because we are living in such a phenomena
called life, there is no “This is it.” It is too complex, too sophisticated, too
beyond human perception for any fool to say, “This is it.” But unfortunately, people have been fed upon
this, “This is it” business. They believe this, this, this and this five
things, dumbest five things and they think “This is it.” Because somebody told them. Well, it's written in a book. You know, you can also write a book; you're
an American, hello (Laughter)? You can also write a book, you know, anybody
can write a book. Only thing is you must write it on a old piece
of paper and say this was thousand years old and everybody will say, “This is it.” So whether a book was written 1000 years ago
or 10,000 years ago, “Oh Sadhguru, there was no paper 10,000 years ago,” but they
wrote on stone tablets, they wrote on gold plates, they wrote on copper plates, you know? Doesn't matter where the hell it’s written,
what is written. There is no “This is it” to life. If one kills their wonder and inquiry into
every dimension of life, every moment of their life, they'll kill themselves, nothing else. So I was at the Bryce National Park, and I
just looked at this whole phenomena, incredible means – you know, even I cannot grasp it. So can I torture you with a poem? Hello? Participants: Yes. Sadhguru: No, I can't see your real expression,
so you must... (Laughter). It's called “Confounded.” Rocks and more rocks,
not just lying there but have risen to impossible
geometric symphony. Staring down at you like
living things, that they are. What insane heart and
industrious hand could put them all up in these
magnificent forms that the human eye finds hard
to comprehend. All one can do is,
stare Confounded. Confounded by this craft
of creation. Those of you, who are living in United States,
you must see these places, huh. Hello? Tch, rocks have risen, so before you're
buried, you must see. It's very important because living in close
societies, living within the four walls of home, you will become an absolutist, ‘This
is it, that is it.’ You should… you know what temperature to
set the air conditioning (Laughs). This makes you a little removed from life
process because it's absolute, seventy-two degrees, is that what you said? Hello? It’s absolute. That's not how it is. That's not how life is. That's not how this is. That's not how anything is in the universe. So this absolutist way of looking at life,
has entered human mind largely through religion, through philosophies, through ideologies;
now unfortunately, the textbook science also is doing that. They are also becoming absolutist, ‘This
is it.’ But every two years they keep changing their
opinion, that is a good thing about them. But the religious people, the philosophical
people, ideological people, they refuse to change their opinion. They are absolute, absolute. These are every two years absolute but something
else… some other observation comes and they keep changing. It is not necessary to sit here and think,
“I know how the Earth spins,” you don't know! Hello? Do you know? Do you know how the planet is spinning? Or are you the planet spinner? Hello, anybody? Because most people are going around, in their
life, the expression on their face when I look at them, I think they’re planet spinners,
they must be spinning the planet; with such a big burden on their face, they're like (Gestures)
you know (Laughs). God dammit, everything is happening. It's for you to experience the bounty of life. Your problem is – did you ever think you
must live like a grasshopper? Hello? No. You never envied him that how he hops? Hello? Frog? I'm sure you tried to kiss one (Laughter)
because culturally it's believed that there is a guy hiding behind – only prince, or
princess also? Hello? Its better we create both the stories so that
frogs get cared for (Laughs). You never thought in your neighborhou… in
your neighbor's house that grasshopper; you want to be like him. You feel envious, how he hops. Well, but this is happening all the time,
you want to live like somebody else, you want to be like somebody else. You don't even know whether these creatures
are better than grasshoppers. Hello. But you want to be like them because socially
it is established that is a better life than this. So the moment you get into this madness, then
unnecessarily life becomes challenging, unnecessarily life becomes misery because if you hop this
much, that guy hops that much and that guy hops so… so you hop that much. And you… because he hopped more and you
tried to hop more and you’ll (you?) broke one of your legs. And you still want to hop and it hurts. No. Grasshoppers hop, earthworms crawl, frog croak,
croak, croak. They're all doing what they can do best. They're not trying to be like somebody else. What's your problem? The moment you get into this madness, wanting
to be like somebody else – this wanting to be like somebody else is not your idea. It is set in the society. When you went to kindergarten school itself,
they told you, “Who is number one? Who is number two?” Of course you want to be the least number,
I don't know why. There used to be thirty-five people in my
class; I always thought thirty-five is a good number (Laughter), the best number in the
classroom. But oh… everybody was trying to be the least
number. I don't know why. I never understood why (Laughs). Hello, which is a bigger number, thirty-five
or one (Laughter)? Have I understood the numerical system wrongly? Thirty-five is a bigger number than one, isn't
it? But everybody wants to be one because they
want to sit on somebody else's head. Sitting on somebody else's head is not a comfortable
seat, believe me, huh. Hello? Try to sit on somebody else's head, they will
do everything possible to make your life miserable. You tried in the family or in the office or
somewhere? Hello. They will do everything possible to make your
life miserable and they will succeed. And they should! If you sit on my head, what will I do? Yes or no? Even me, I'm saying (Laughs). So this is going on endlessly. So people think life is very complex, so much
problem, virus… see, when the virus came in the very beginning, a lot of people reacted
to what I said. Of course, there are social media champions
who are absolute opinions about everything, all right. I said, “This is come. There are only two things as far as I'm concerned. Well, economy is going to be hit,” I said
then only. They said, “No, no, in three weeks lockdown,
after that will be normal, in India.” I said that, “Three weeks, no. It’s going to run for some time. How long, depends on how responsible we are. But the important thing is, ensure that you
don't die. You don't get infected. Suppose it happens to you, ensure it doesn't
go to one more person. And ensure that nobody starves to death on
this planet.” This is all. The rest of it what will happen? At the most what will happen? Maybe we will live as people lived twenty
years ago, as all of us lived twenty years ago. Economy going down means just that, isn't
it? Hello. Maybe we will live as we lived twenty years
ago. Believe me, I remember everything twenty years
ago, life was not bad. Hello, was it bad? I'm sure all of you are over twenty. Was it very bad? It was fine. Or let's say we live like how people lived
thirty years ago. Was it very bad? If you look at the numbers, it's all bad,
economy was here, now, it's here, here, whatever but life was not bad – even hundred years
ago people lived well, in their own way. Maybe they didn't have what you have. So all that will happen is maybe you'll have
a little less. As long as people don't starve, that we must
ensure and people don't die, what's your problem? I'm asking, hmm? Right now we've been… we've been running
our economic engine like this. All of us full throttle, full. Everything we can do. And it's roaring. But any of you holding the steering wheel
of the economic engine, which way it should go? Hello? Is anybody holding the steering wheel? No. An engine which is on full throttle, with
nobody at the steering wheel, you know what that is? Hello. Yes or no? You know what that is? It's a impending disaster. That's what it is. So right now, somebody put brakes on you. I'm not trying to philosophize, “Everything
is okay,” no. These are hard times, no question. There's no question about it. I'm not philosophizing and saying, “It's
all, all right. Virus is a good thing to happen.” People keep asking me, “Sadhguru, is there
some lesson to be learned from the virus” (Laughs)? You didn't learn from anybody, now you want
to learn from a micro-organism (Laughter)? You ignored your parents, you ignored your
teachers, you ignored me. Now you want to learn from a micro-organism? You think it's possible for you (Laughs)? Right now, because you're little down, you
are thinking of learning from a micro-organism. Tch, what a pious intent, huh. From a micro-organism, something that you
cannot see; from that you are willing to learn. Arrey, I've been trying to teach you for a
long time (Laughs). So this is… these are hard times, but the
difficulty should be only in the surrounding, not here. There may be a little more difficult to make
a living, maybe diff… maybe a little more difficult to pay your bills. Maybe it may be… a little more difficult
to pursue whatever we were pursuing in our lives. But existence should not become difficult,
isn't it? “Air is cleaner” everybody's saying; everywhere
in the world except California (Laughter). Everywhere in the world, people are saying,
“Air is cleaner, traffic is thinner,” and whatever, whatever, whatever. So many benefits! Birds are singing in their homes, you know? A whole lot of people… people reporting
in India, “Birds are singing in their gardens.” So everything seems to be good except that
a few difficulties are there in terms of economic well-being. Social stuff, there are party animals who
cannot live without a party; they are throwing virus parties. That is how to spread virus to all your friends. Because that's the way friendship is, isn't
it? Hello. If you are drinking, you make sure your friend
also drinks. If you are smoking, you make sure friend also
smokes. Isn't this the way of friendship? Because you would like to die together (Laughs)? That's ultimate friendship that we're willing
to die for each other, isn't it? Both of us smoke, both of us drink, both of
us get infected; tch, friendship. Two guys, went drinking. See friends means… friends means we must
drink together, we must smoke together, we must get infected together, of course (Laughter). So, two guys went drinking in a bar and after
some time, one falls off the bar-stool and lies motionless, on the ground, on the floor. The other friend looks at him and tells the
barkeeper, “The best thing about my friend, Fred is, he really knows when to stop” (Few
laugh). Okay (Laughs). So, unfortunately, this has been our understanding
of friendship. If we… if I'm drinking, I must make sure
my friend must drink; if I'm smoking, I must make sure my friend must smoke. If I'm infected, he must get it too and it's
happening. So for some time, you need to be like a spiritual
seeker. The entire world, if they just sit like this,
for a fortnight – scientists are saying, not me – that virus will be gone, tch. Whole human population, if they knew how to
be and all, from this moment onwards, we all simply sat like this, for one fortnight, virus
is gone. Tch, but what to do? Human creatures, not human beings, who are
as compulsive as any other creature and far more compulsive than most creatures actually,
doing things compulsively and it’s become such a big challenge. What should have passed off as a simple thing
has become such a big challenge because of our compulsive behavior. So, the entire process of what we do and do
not do, now has come to question. That part of it is actually good for humanity. Only problem is over a million people have
died unfortunately. And above all, people have lost their loved
ones. Not only that, when somebody near to you or
dear to you, is dying, you're not able to go there and tend to them. Or they're dead, still, you're not able to
go there. The administration or the government is doing
the cremations and burials which is very painful for anybody. These are the unfortunate realities. If you leave those things, rest of it, oh,
yes, there is struggle, but at least nobody is bombing your home, nobody is coming and
cutting off your head, which was happening, right through history of humanity. Hello, isn't it so? Right through history of humanity… what
is your history book marked with? This battle, that war, this bomb, this, that? Hello. So this is how we've been, unfortunately,
this is how we've been. But fortunately, right now, in twenty-first
century, at least in most parts of the world; still, in some parts of the world it's happening,
at least in most parts of the world, nobody's coming to kill you! Hmm? Most parts of the world. Yes, there is crime, yes there is war but
still I want you to know, this is the safest period that humanity is experiencing right
now compared to how human beings have lived in the past. Yes or no? Hmm? I know you’re masked, but you can speak,
huh. Participants: Yes (Sadhguru Laughs). Sadhguru: I've been exploring America's fascination
with the outlaws of the wild west time and all that stuff. They all look like you (Laughter). Same expression. Their hand had an instrument, but you are
hands-free, I don't know what you will shoot with, but they all look like you. You can't make out now, ‘Who is… who is
the bank's customer (Laughter)? Who is (Laughs)… who’s come to clean up?’Because
we were just driving in Utah and… you know I whizzed past a board, a small board and
it registered in my m… because I was at a certain speed, I just passed. Then it registered in my mind, it read, “Butch
Cassidy's home.” I stopped almost quarter mile away and then
turned back and went. A small little log cottage. It is a place where Butch Cassidy lived. You know, Butch Cassidy? All of you know? Young people don't know, tch. Everything interesting happened before you
were born (Laughter). So I mean, our generation, nobody does not
know, who is Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, stuff, okay (Laughs)? So we went back and spent some time there;
a small little cottage and somebody preserved it nicely as it was supposed to be at that
time. So America's fascination with outlaws has
been big. And we… we are looking at researching something
to… do something about that about why people were so fascinated by outlaws; at least you’re
dressed like one. So (Laughs), I think it's a good time to explore
that aspect. ‘What are we prepared for? What are we not prepared for? What is it that human beings have been doing?’ If you look at this, there are many, many
things. But it came to my notice in 1958, both the
United States government and the USSR government of the time, both of them wanted to explode
a nuclear bomb on the moon. Did you know this? Because they wanted to prove that you know,
they dominate the outer space. The way to prove it is nuclear bomb the moon! Then the US strategists went back on it because
one thing is they thought suppose you shoot this bomb or launch this bomb, suppose it
misses the moon, and it's always possible it'll come straight back and hit some part
of geography on the planet. So they kind of gave it up. The Russians gave it up; it was USSR at that
time. They gave it up because… they calculated
because there's no atmosphere, if you put the nuclear bomb, the amount of dust that
will rise is so little and it will be so brief that you may not be able to catch it on the
camera in… in an impressive manner. So they gave it up for that reason. But can you believe it? They wanted to bomb the moon! Hello. There is nobody to kill (Laughs). There is nobody to kill, the terrain doesn't
belong to anybody yet, but they want to bomb the moon. Tch, this is a clear example of how human
beings have been. Time to change that! It's not about the virus, it's about us. The way we've been living here, aren't we
the worst virus on the planet? Hello? From 1970 to 2016, sixty-eight percent of
the vertebrate population has been exterminated. Sixty-eight! Yes, that's the correct number, I'm telling
you. By now it's over seventy percent. Seventy percent of the vertebrate population
we have killed in fifty years. And a similar percentage of insects, worms,
other bio-activity, we have destroyed. If anybody else was observing; suppose the
grasshoppers, today they're popular, you know, the grasshoppers were ruling this planet. They would think, “These virus, we must
eliminate somehow.” Yes or no? Would they think or no? If any other species had done what we are
doing to this planet, would we have not thought how to eliminate this species by doing whatever,
poison the earth, poison…b… you know, chemically bomb them, nuclear bomb them, whatever? When we are willing to bomb the moon, just
to prove that we can explode something out there and we want to take a picture! How many things you're doing to take a selfie,
people are falling off the bridges (Laughs), people are getting run over by trains. Hello (Laughs)? To take a picture, to prove a point! All this is because a human being doesn't
know how to be, he has to do. If we were other creatures, we had brains
only to do what is needed for us, that would have been good. Even now, if you take away half your brain,
you will be quite a safe creature. Tch, with a full brain, if you do not know
how to be, then this full brain is a serious problem. When you have a full grown brain, you must
know how to be, otherwise this is a dangerous instrument. Without knowing how to be, without being conscious,
ah, the consequences are terrible. It's just except us, everybody else knows. If seventy percent of our population had died
because of this virus, we clearly know that this is a terrible tragedy, isn't it? You think the other creatures do not know
this about us? Hello? You think they do not know? They know. Some few days ago, very cute of human beings
that they fixed a ‘International Animal Day.’ I don't know what that’s supposed to mean. Maybe they had ten different types of animals
on their table. I mean (Laughs) to say in the plates, you
know (Laughter). I don't know what ‘World Animal Day’ means. But then I just looked up and saw, every day
we are killing two-hundred million animals on the planet, in the name of nourishment. Many, many millions of fish and other aquatic
life, over 1.2 trillion animal… fish per year and some seventy-two billion other animals
per year for 7.6 billion people – do you need this much food? We don't need that much food, but we are killing
because we've started an industry. “Today these many animals should be slaughtered;
it doesn't matter whether you can eat that many or not.” That's about it. So, with so much brain and industry that we
have set up, we can't stop anything. In a way virus has put a brake on it. You know this… I've said this before. At some time ago in United Kingdom and Europe,
mad cow disease happened. You remember this one, tch? So, two cows met in the English meadow, English
cows. So, one said to the other, “What is your
opinion about the mad cow disease?” The other one said, “I don't care a hoot,
because I am a helicopter” (Laughter). Well, we have forgotten we are human beings,
that's the whole problem. We have forgotten we have la… we are life
and our life is enmeshed with everything else. “Sadhguru, we came for a spiritual morning,
you're giving us environmental talk.” No, no, I'm talking spirituality. Because spiritual process means you broke
the boundaries of your physical self. Once you break the boundaries of your physical
self, just everything is you. This is not environment. This is what I noticed is very significant
about the Native American people. Right now, environment, ecological concerns
are in the textbook, in a school or a university. But these are people who lived with the environment
in their hearts. That's what needs to happen, that our sense
of environment and ecological concern has to live in our hearts, not in a textbook. It will only happen if you pay attention to
life. The day we made the mistake of starting these
schools – they're all closed down, I’m very happy, children must be happy. It never happened during my time, you know
(Laughter). I remember the President of India died when
I was in sixth standard, I think. Yes. So, we went to the school. See, the best thing is – when you go to
the school and then they declare holiday. Before that if they declare, home agenda will
be there. Parents have their own agenda. You went to the school and then they declared
holiday, then you have a free day. So, they declared holiday on… because that
morning he had died, that day and the next day, two days, President of India died. So, we were having a good time. And we sat down and we were calculating, “Suppose
the Prime Minister dies, how much we’ll get (Laughter)? Suppose the chief minister dies, how many
days will get? Suppose they all die on consecutive days,
what will happen to us? How free will we become” (Laughs)? I'm saying (Laughs) we were just… what? Maybe I was... Ah, maybe I was ten years of age and we were
thinking how if all these people die, not on the same day, but holiday, holiday, holiday,
holiday they will declare for us and especially if they die in the morning, it’s good. We go to school and then they declare holiday,
we go to school and then they declare holiday. So, we only have to go back by evening home,
we have lunch box. We’re equipped for the day, you know (Laughs). So, today's children, 2020 children who are
going to school are having a good time I believe. But I hear many are suffering that also, tch. So, this whole schooling system has put this
into our mind that everything is a hierarchy, everything is one, two, three, four, everything
is absolute. Education was supposed to open up deeper horizons
of life. But unfortunately, it's become absolutism
– just like religion. “This is it. This is it. This is it.” That's a way it is being delivered. Even science is being delivered like that. It is no more on exploration. Everything is made absolute. So, in this process, everybody starts imitating
everybody else, the whole social behavior, in terms of learning, in terms of perception,
in terms of judgment, everybody reacts the same way. Many should be happy that they are home, but
no, because you're supposed to be unhappy. When there is a pandemic, are you supposed
to be happy? Hello? People say, “Sadhguru! What? No problem for you. Life is good for you. You're on the motorcycle” (Laughter). You don't know. For me also the entire 2020 plan and 2021
plan, whatever we had whatever we invested in, everything wiped out. Yes. And I have a few thousand people on my physical
responsibility to feed them and to take care of them and everything. Well, the Foundation is sitting with zero
revenue right now. Zero, but we have people and we have projects,
we have schools to run, we're still keeping those things going. We have projects to fulfill, we're still keeping
that going. So, I have more troubles than you. But with all of you with me, I have learned
to enjoy my troubles (Laughter). Just being mean, it's okay. Please there are any questions? Speaker: Sadhguru, many times you spoke about
great masters confusing their disciples with contradictory answers. Does a master or guru always speak the truth? Or would he avoid saying the truth, if that
is what is needed for disciple’s growth? Jasmeet from Punjab. Sadhguru: Who’s that? Speaker: Jasmeet. Sadhguru: Oh. Oh, I think in a way, I've already answered
this question, you are in the absolutist mode. There was… my… I had a grand-uncle who passed away a few
years ago at the age of one-zero-one. He was a very humorous and gregarious man
(Laughs). So, he had a son, an adopted son. And that boy, just not interested in the education,
nor was I. But I was… I always made sure I went to the next class,
because I didn't want to be left behind. But that boy sort of not doing well in school. So, when we went for vacation to their place,
so my grand-uncle asked me, “What class are you?” I said, “I'm sixth standard.” He says, “You liar. Just last year you told me five. And now you're saying six? Look at our boy. Always he's in number five. He tells the truth.” This is the kind of question this is. Yes, I said, “It’s sunrise.” Evening you asked me, “What is it?” I said, “Sunset.” “Oh, you're lying.” What can I do for you, ah? Hello (Laughs). You flipped a coin. And it fell. I said, “It's heads.” You flip… flipped a coin. I said, “Oh, it's tails.” “Oh, you're lying.” Tch, but suppose, if it's multifaceted, let's
say you threw dice. I said, “One,” I said, “four,” I said,
“Two,” I said, “Three,” I said, “Six.” I'm lying. What can I do with you (Laughs)? You should live on a flat earth. Unfortunately, it's round and it's spinning. Never shows the same face to you again. This is why there are two dimensions of life. There's one called, you know, one that is
absolute. There are certain dimensions of life which
are absolute, certain other dimensions of life which are constantly changing. In a way this is represented within us as
energy and in the world, as… Well, in human terms, masculine and feminine,
Pingala and Ida, Sun and Moon, tch. Sun is always round. Every day round, perfect round. Hello, did you ever see a square one (Laughter)? Aye, in California you might have when you're
on certain things (Laughter). One day it came up square like that, you know
(Laughs). But look at the damn moon. Every day it's a different shape. Hello? One or two days it even disappears. Every day, different shape. So, this is what is confounding people even
about women because every day different shape (Laughter). Man is very solar oriented. He wants every day round like that. Like somebody said (Laughs), I don't remember,
some American author I think said this. He said the difference between men and women
is… in marriage, women are always expecting the man to change and they’re disappointed
he's not changing, he is still the same young brat. Men are always expecting the women should
not change, as she was at eighteen, the same way she should be when she's sixty. See, one is moon, another is sun (Laughs),
everyday round, this is not like that, every day is different, wonky (Laughs). So, if I say, “The moon is round,” am
I lying? If I say, “The moon is just a sliver today,”
am I lying? No, no, that's how it is. But you are a (an?) absolutist, you’ve come
to me thinking I'm going to give you a new religion. No. I'm not going to give you such comfort so
that you can sleep well. No, I want you disturbed. Hello? I want you disturbed because if ignorance
does not make you sleep less, then that's a tragedy. You're ignorant and you can sleep well. That's a tragedy. People think ignorance is bliss. No, ignorance is a tragedy. What do you think? Hello? Ignorance is the worst tragedy that human
beings have always suffered and continue to suffer. Yes or no? But somebody says, “Ignorance is bliss.” All the best for them. This happened. In the American Airlines, a man was sitting
in the first-class compartment and to his amazement, a Macaw parrot was in his neighboring
seat, wearing a seatbelt and sitting like that. And then before the airplane takes off, the
parrot asked, “I want scotch whiskey.” The hostess says, “No, till we take off,
we cannot serve you.” And in the choicest of words the parrot abuses
her a whole litany of everything you know. Tch, you're in Los Angeles, I don't have to
teach you anything. Full dictionary throws (thrown?) at the woman
and she is like doesn't know what to do, but abuses her. Then after it takes off, again the parrot
screams, “I want my scotch.” So, on the other side, they are doing ting,
ting, tong, ting, you know, bottles and glasses and something and the parrot screamed, “You
moron. What are you doing there? Why so much delay?” The man orders a Coke. And he waits and looks at the parrot’s power
by the screams and yells the way he treats people, puts his weight around quite a bit. Then he sees this and is very impressed by
the parrot. Then parrot on… orders one more round and
again screams at everybody because it's delayed and the man orders another Coke. And now he thought he should also do it. “I'm just sitting like a wimp, not asking
for my…” He also yells. Then this match continues that ask for food
and yells and this guy asks for food and yells at the thing. Then the crew has a small conference. They consult the pilot and they come, they
pick up both of them, open the door and throw them out of the flight. Both of them are going down. And the parrot says, “You really have guts
for a man without wings” (Laughter). This is like that. Ignorance is not bliss. Because life is a phenomena, a most dynamic
phenomena, but you want to be a fossil. Hello? You're wearing Fossil (Laughter)? You want to be a fossil, everything dead certain
because you su… you suffer uncertainty, isn't it? Hello? What is called as security in life is, “Fossilize
life. Nothing should change.” No, it changes, what to do, tch? All the time it's changing. It's very dynamic. So, as it's my commitment and duty and it's
my mission to see or to show people what I see. Today moon is just a sliver, should I say,
“Moon is round?” Yes, it is round somewhere, I know that. If you look at it from the other side, it
is round. But in our experience, it’s just a sliver
today. Hello? “No, Moon is round.” It's not like that. Life on one level, it is round. It is true, it is round, always round. But in our experience, it keeps changing. So, there are different aspects to life. If you think everything is black and white,
everything is “yes,” “no,” then, ah, you must join the Communist Party. What is useful, what is not useful – just
decide it. Nothing is not useful. Hello? Hello? Is there anything not useful? You may think it's not useful. It has its own life. It has its own use, yes or no? A small little stick, is it useful? You may not use it; somebody else is using
it. A grasshopper, is it useless? Hello? No, it's useful, it has a full-fledged life
of its own. So, you are thinking of everything as absolute
according to your ideology or your emotional status or your philosophy or your religion. Everything is absolute, this way or that way,
“Good,” “Bad.” I keep seeing this, even in the news channels,
international news channels from Am… national news channels from United States. Actually the anchor is speaking, “Good guys,”
and “Bad guys.” I ca… I couldn't believe this. You meet… you meet the most bad guy, whoever
you think is the worst bad guy, he also thinks he is good. Hello? Yes or no? Who is bad to us, who is good to us is a context
of where we are, what we are getting at that moment. Yes or no? You must all at least stop this much. You should never use the word, “Bad weather.” “It's raining. It's snowing. It is hot.” But it's not bad weather. Hello? Who are you to decide weather is bad? Hello (Laughs)? Don't use such words because this is all establishing
division, division, division, division. Absolutism means divide, divide, divide, divide. In the end, fight each other and die. We want to bomb the moon, we are not simple
people. Hello? We want to bomb the moon, ah. Are are a… in the American culture for little
children, do you teach songs about the moon and ah? There are or no? Nursery rhymes are there about the moon? Do you have or no? In India, there's a whole lot of songs in
every language about the moon, how wonderful it is, it's a ball of butter, and so many
things. Okay, you went and stepped on my butter, that's
okay. But you want to bomb my butter? Don't do that. What is the point of this? This is all coming because we have an absolutist
mind. Mind should be fluid, only then it's intelligent. If it becomes absolute in some way, it becomes
a concrete block. With a concrete block, you can butt other
people in the face. Hello? This is one use of the head, isn't it? You can butt people in the face. Or, you can use your brains to do something
meaningful and worthwhile for you and for every other life on this planet, and this
is not civics. This is not environmental science. This is spiritual process, that you use your
head to do something wonderful to yourself and to everybody, or you use your head to
make somebody's nose bleed. You can use the head both ways, right?
