Sadhguru On Overcoming Anxiety

Sadhguru: If your mind took instructions from you, would you create anxiety? Just do this simple sadhana, all of you. If you can't do any other yoga, this much you can do, isn't it? You will see, half your anxiety will start settling down because essentially the conflict is, there are two dimension within you. If your mind took instructions from you, would you create anxiety? No. So don't look for answers elsewhere, elsewhere, elsewhere, it is just that your own physiology and your psychological patterns are not taking instructions from you. So, you said so many things, "I try…" you know, whatever these big words are floating all over California particularly, about surrendering to it, about letting it go, about... Not for one person has such a thing worked – ever. (Laughter) Has it, I'm asking you? You have anxiety – try to let it go. (Laughter) Does it go? Even a flu, damn flu, doesn't go! (Laughter) Yes, or no? Participants: Yes. Sadhguru: Even a simple cold does not go; you say, "Go!" Does it go? (Laughter) So, let's not get into this fanciful states of surrendering, these are all words thrown around. Nobody knows what is surrender, because when it happens, you will not know it has happened. (Laughs) You can't do it, "I surrendered!" How is that possible? (Laughter) So, leaving those things, essentially, as I said, you have not read the user's manual, of how this works. (Referring to oneself) We need to pay attention to this. (Referring to oneself) The system is made in such a way, if you hold your hand like this (Gestures) it'll work one way; if you do like this, it'll work another way; if you do like that, it'll work another way – it's a phenomenal process! If it was a simple thing, we could have just beaten it into shape with hammer and anvil, okay? It's too sophisticated, it's a phenomenally complex machine. One needs to pay a certain level of attention to be able to use it for what it is designed for, otherwise it'll get itself messed up. Now, there may be many factors, there may be genetic factors, there may be sociological factors, there may be growing up issues, you know, various things, but do not ascribe your problems to any of those things. The important thing is just this: you are not able to have your mind the way you want it, that's the only problem you have, isn't it? The moment you ascribe it, "I am like this because my father was like that, I am like this because my grandfather's genetics were not okay" – you're finished! (Laughter) Because we can't change those guys now. (Laughter) Yes? You can't choose a different father, or a different grandfather now, it's over! (Laughter) But you can transform this. (Referring to oneself) You must understand, still it doesn't matter you have anxiety disorder, still if you put a piece of carrot, there is an intelligence here which can transform a carrot into a human being. That means, every day a new body is being manufactured within you, isn't it? In parts, a new human being is manufactured every day. When the very source of creation is functioning within you, and a new human being is constantly being created, if you take little charge of that, you can create an entire new physiological and psychological process. This happened to us some time ago. Last year, we were trekking in Tibet. I was in a tent, I was doing some work, and... another person was cutting an apple. You know, one of these porcelain knives these days? So, the other person around says to this person, "It's a very sharp knife, be careful." It irritates me a bit; I look like this (Gestures) because he's a grown man. If it's a child it's different, then we have to watch how he uses the knife; it's a full-grown man, and a knife is supposed to be sharp. (Laughter) If it's not sharp, why do you call it a knife? (Laughter) So, I ignored it, and continued to work; another two minutes, she says again, "It's a very sharp knife, be careful." (Laughter) I said, "Come on! He's a full-grown man, leave him alone, he knows how to use this knife! This stupid knife, can't he handle? It's not some earth-moving machinery, or spacecraft or something that he doesn't know how to handle – it's a knife!" She says, "No, Sadhguru, it's a very sharp knife." (Laughter) What?! As I continue what I'm doing, in another two minutes, she whispers to him, "Please be careful, very sharp." (Laughter) And in another two minutes, he cuts his finger. (Laughter) Then I give up, okay? This is all that's happening, this is all that's happening with life. You have an intellect for which you don't have a stable enough platform. Or, in other words, you have a sharp knife, I'm sorry – a very sharp knife – (Laughter) a very sharp knife in your hand, but your hand is not steady. (Gestures) Please see, it's your own mind which is causing all this pain, isn't it? Yes, or no? So, you have a very sharp knife; the sharper it is, the more you cut yourself. So, we don't have to blunt the knife, we just have to have a steady hand, isn't it? Nothing has been done about that. People are trying to blunt the knife with all these sedatives and nonsense – what you take is to blunt the knife. Blunting the knife is not the answer, because if you lower the possibilities of who you are, everything will be okay. If we remove half of your brain, you'll be quite peaceful (Laughter) because it takes some brain to cause anxiety. (Laughter) If we really remove half of your brain, you'll be quite peaceful, and you may even be happy, actually. (Laughter) Nothing bothers you, you're okay, all right? (Laughter) But that's not what we're looking for. What a human being is looking for is to become limitless in some way, and if this has to happen, you have to create a steady platform. Knife need not be taken away, knife need not be blunted, only thing is, hand needs to be steadied, isn't it? No process to be done. (Applause) What... what Inner Engineering means, what yoga means is just this. When I say yoga, being in California, don't imagine all those impossible postures. (Laughter) Yoga does not mean postures, yoga means union, okay? The word 'yoga' literally means union. This is the first form of union, hmm? (Gestures namaskar) Your right and left, this is called as pingala and ida in yoga – the masculine and the feminine within you. Just put it together, just do this simple sadhana, all of you. If you can't do any other yoga, this much you can do, isn't it? What you do is, something that concerns your life – it could be the sun coming up. Sun is coming up; without sun coming up, you wouldn't exist on this planet, isn't it? The warmth of life is going on within you only because the sun comes up. Without the tree exhaling oxygen, and you exhaling carbon dioxide for it, and this exchange happening, you wouldn't be alive, isn't it? Like this look at it, the food that you eat, the sun, the earth that you walk upon, air that you breathe, water that you drink, people who live around you, whatever, you choose anyone, just do this. (Gestures) Put your right and left together perfectly; not like this, not like this – perfectly, okay? Just look at something that really matters to you, maybe the sun, maybe the sky, maybe the cloud, maybe a tree, maybe a person, maybe a child, an animal, it doesn't matter what – just look at it, putting your hands together for 10, 12 minutes at a stretch. You will see, half your anxiety will start settling down, because essentially the conflict is, there are two dimensions within you; for… I don't want to go into an elaborate description of this, because the yogic physiology goes elaborately into this, but to put it simply, even modern medical science is telling you there's a right brain and a left brain, all right? Just put these two things together, look at with utmost love and appreciation towards something that matters to you – it could be your wife, it could be your husband, it could be your child, a tree, a dog, sky, sun, moon, whatever, every one of them are vital for your life, isn't it so? Yes? Whatever you can relate to, putting these two things together, just look at them with utmost pleasantness that you can generate, recognizing how important they are for you – many things will change. This is first form of yoga. If I do this, it'll become difficult.(Gestures) And there are many ways to do namaskar: like this, like that, like that. (Gestures) This is the most simple thing. (Gestures) Start here, okay? (Laughs)