Sadhguru on Self-Confidence

Sadhguru: Because I don’t have any confidence about anything. But I have clarity. If you are just confident, you will blunder through life. You must extinguish your confidence and bring clarity. Ria: So Sadhguru, you are so revered, and you are so cherished, do you ever get a superiority complex? Sadhguru: Right now, yes. (Laughter) See, the question is not about superiority complex, inferiority complex, poverty complex, or wealthy complex. That you have a complex, is a serious problem, isn't it? Whatever kind it is! What a complex means is, you have assumed something about yourself, and you have concretized that assumption in such a way, you make a bloody fool of yourself wherever you go. Do I look like that? Hello? Do I look like I’m making a bloody fool of myself with you? Ria: No. Sadhguru: No. So... (Laughs) no complex - of any kind. Ria: All right. But then our confidence fluctuates every day, so what do you have to say about that? Sadhguru: Because I don’t have any confidence about anything - I just have clarity. People think I have knowledge. No, my head is empty. That’s why, to make it look little substantial, I have a turban. (Laughter/Applause) It’s totally empty always, but I have clarity. Clarity means what? You see things the way they are. Knowledge means what? You have fixed information about everything. If things have changed, you will not see it the way it is. That’s as good as being blind. See, people think owls are blind. It’s not true! Their vision is far more sensitive than yours, but because of sunlight they're blinded, because it’s too much. When light goes down, he sees very clearly - not because he’s blind - because his eyes are super sensitive. So, it’s important that you bring clarity to your life, not knowledge, because knowledge is conclusions that you gather. Knowledge is okay when you're trying to do something physical, material in the world, but not with life. Is it true what you thought was absolute at the age of 12, today is not true? Yes, or no? Are you sure that whatever you think is “this is it” right now, will be “this is it” in another 3 years’ time? Ria: Of course not. Sadhguru: You know that. So you know you're wrong. (Chuckles) Yes, or no? Ria: Yes. Sadhguru: So, you know anyway you're wrong. So, why assert the wrong things? Well, right now we are wrong, at least let’s manage with little… little more conscious; if you know you're wrong, you will walk carefully, isn't it? Hello? But you think you're absolutely correct, then you will do stupid things, and you blunder around the world. If you know you're not seeing properly, will you walk carefully, or no? If I asked you to walk through a dark room, suppose we turn off all the lights and close it down, everything, pitch dark, if I ask you to walk, suddenly will you become super alert and conscious as to how you walk? But when the lights are on, you're just going unconsciously, bumping into everybody. So, if you learn to walk every moment like there are no lights, and you're looking at everything absolutely carefully, then what you see clearly, you go through it, what you don’t see clearly, you hesitate. Some places you take a little bit of chance. But if you are just confident, you will blunder through life, we don’t know where you will get in, and what you will get trapped into. Most people are trapped into their professions, their family situations, their social situations in such a way, they all became like this... (Gestures) Yes? Already I’m seeing not just older people, youth have become like this. “What will happen to me at the end of my life? What will happen to me at the end of my life?” I’ve already revealed the secret - you will die. (Laughter/Applause) “But Sadhguru, if this happens what to do, if that happens what to do?” All those things will happen! It’s not that everything will happen in your life the way you like it. Things will happen in the way you don’t like it. It once happened. Shankaran Pillai got fired from his job, (Few laugh) simply because he asked a question: “Smoking or non-smoking?” How can you get fired for asking such a simple question? “Smoking or non-smoking?” he asked, and he got fired. Because what he was supposed to ask was, “Cremation or burial?” (Laughter/Applause) So, many times what you do, thinking “I’m right” may be irrelevant to the situation in which you exist. So, the most important aspect of your life is, you're relevant, not right - you're just relevant. To the existing situation, you're relevant. “I’m right, I’m right, I’m right!” This is confidence. You being right, nobody cares. All the idiots who think they're right, nobody wants to listen to them, nobody wants to be around them, isn't it? People who always think “I’m right, I’m right,” you want to be around them? No, the important thing is, you're relevant to the situation in which you exist. If you have to bring relevance into your life, you must extinguish your confidence and bring clarity. To develop clarity there are many systems. See, to develop your muscle, there are systems, isn't it? Similarly, to develop clarity, there are many systems. Unfortunately, our education system is dulling clarity in so many ways. Some of the research studies in the university shows that, if a child goes to kindergarten and goes through 20 years of education – I’m sorry I’m saying this is an educational institution – 20 years of education and comes out, let’s say, with a PhD. They are saying, 70% of their intelligence is irrevocably destroyed. So, you have a knowledgeable idiot. What do you do with this? Well, you can impress people by throwing information, but this whole game of impressing people, throwing this information and that information around, is all going to go, because that Google lady is better than any of these idiots! (Laughter) Hello? (Laughter/Applause) You… it’s really amazing, I’m just traveling to wherever. Let’s say, I’m flying to United States or Africa, somewhere. I just ask, you know, “What is the morning temperature in Entebbe? I’m landing there.” Without batting an eyelid, in 2 seconds she tells me, "It’s 14 °C and by afternoon it’s 18 °C, by evening it’s again 12 °C. Who could ever say this? (Chuckles) Hello? She may not be perfectly right, but she’s almost there. So, people who are carrying a basket of information on their head and feeling superior, I want you to understand this: in this country, and everywhere else in the world, in the… not the previous, but the previous generation, somebody who could read a book was seen god-like, because everybody else was illiterate. And people thrived simply because they can read the Gita, or the Bible, or something else. They thrived simply because they can read. But once everybody can read, we are ignoring those people completely. Yes, or no? Hello? Participants: Yes. Sadhguru: So, people who are carrying information and feeling superior, they will all be made into nothing in the next 15 to 20 years’ time. Once artificial intelligence becomes all over the place, information will mean nothing! Because it will be available everywhere. By then, you must be competent to do something beyond information. This is why I’m with you.