“Your joy and misery comes from within you.”
In short: Sadhguru is a yogi, mystic and founder of the Isha Foundation. In this short London Real Success Secrets clip recorded in 2019 he tells Brian Rose that joy and misery come from within, why mortality should shape how we live, and how to manage energy.
Sadhguru says we can look at everything joyfully and look for a solution, or look at it miserably and become part of the problem. He frames the choice as becoming part of the solution or part of the problem.
He then argues that most people do not consciously accept that they will die, and that if they did they would manage their lives far better. Time passes equally for everyone, he says, but energy can be managed.
Key takeaways
- Joy is internal. Sadhguru says joy and misery come from within, so you choose whether to be part of the solution or the problem.
- Complaining is a choice. He says people can complain as much as they like, but misery can make you a source of problems for others.
- Mortality focuses life. He says people think other people die, and that remembering our own mortality would change how we live.
- Time is fixed, energy is not. Time rolls away for everyone, but you can manage your energy.
- Intensity expands experience. Managing energy intensely, he says, could let you experience in ten days what others experience in ten years.
- Add good company. His stated mission is to live in a wonderful world, not with miserable people, and he is trying to add company.
Choosing to be the solution
Sadhguru’s opening point is that how you look at life is up to you. If you are joyful you become part of the solution, and if you are miserable you also become part of the problem, as well as a possible source of problems for someone else.
Remembering you will die
Asked about people who complain, he says all of this happens because people do not consciously realise they are mortal. He points out that as the conversation goes on, both he and Brian are closer to their graves, and says that consciousness of this would lead people to manage their lives in the best possible way.
Managing energy, not time
He sees life as a certain amount of time and a certain amount of energy. Time is the same for everyone; energy can be managed. He says that someone who lives intensely may have lived a thousand years in a hundred, while others commit “suicide in instalments.”
Who is Sadhguru?
Sadhguru is an Indian yogi, mystic and author, and the founder of the Isha Foundation. He appeared on London Real for the Success Secrets series, in addition to a longer conversation about inner engineering.
Frequently asked questions
Sadhguru is an Indian yogi, mystic and author, and the founder of the Isha Foundation.
He says both come from within you, so you can choose to be part of the solution or the problem.
He says people do not consciously accept that they are mortal, and that doing so would change how they manage their lives.
He says life is a certain amount of time and a certain amount of energy, and that only energy can be managed.
He says he wants to live in a wonderful world, not with miserable people, so he is trying to add some company.
