Transcription
Inner Management
Inner ManagementSadhguruIsha Foundation
Inner ManagementP & 2006 Isha FoundationAll rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced inany form without the written permission of the publisher, exceptin the case of brief quotations in critical articles and reviews.Published by: Isha Foundation15, Govindasamy Naidu Layout,Singanallur, Coimbatore - 641 005. India.Phone : 091 - 422 - 2319654E-mail : yogacenter@ishafoundation.orgWebsite : www.ishafoundation.orgFirst Edition : Isha Fest, September 2006
Our lives become beautiful not because we areperfect. Our lives become beautiful becausewe put our heart into what we are doing.- Sadhguru
IntroductionSadhguru is a self-realized and profoundmystic of our times. He is an embodiment of thesages of the past who served as beacons ofinspiration and guidance for entire civilizations; atthe same time, he is acutely aware of currentrealities, making him a visionary humanitarian anda prominent spiritual leader of the world today.Also an author, poet, and internationally renownedspeaker, Sadhguru's wit and piercing logic provokeand widen our perception of life.As someone who belongs to no particulartradition, Sadhguru's guidance and powerfulscientific methods are totally relevant to themodern individual and institutions, allowing themto cross their limitations into a higher possibility.In this regard, he has been able to touch millions1
of people, moving them towards realizing theultimate potential within.Sadhguru's multi-faceted personality canhave a profound and enriching effect on anyonewho comes across him, and yet it can also stir theminto a state of confusion. At home in blue jeans asmuch as he is in a loincloth, or walking barefootthrough the mighty Himalayas, or straddlinga BMW motorcycle on the expressway, he shattersany preconceptions that one might have of a mystic.In the Presence of the Master series arediscourses and answers to an intricate array ofquestions, by disciples and seekers amidst thechallenges of life. Engulfed by Sadhguru'spresence, the seeker is liberated from the pain ofignorance, firmly establishing the spiritual processwithin.2
In this volume, 'Inner Management', Sadhgurunot only reveals effective tools to enhance ourmanagement capabilities, but also illuminatesa way to open up a whole new dimension of lifethat frees us from the dependency on externalinfluences.3
Inner ManagementIf we want to live well, both externally andinternally, how well we live here simply dependson how well we manage our surroundings andhow well we manage ourselves. Fundamentally,life is management. The quality of your lifedepends on how well you manage your body,your mind, your emotion, your situations, yourhome, your communities, nations, your life ingeneral and the world. But generally we arethinking of management only in terms of businessmanagement, or industry management; generallywe are talking management only with economicsituations, not life as a whole.In many ways it is unfortunate that todaythe most predominant factor that rules the planetis economics. The other aspects of life have been5
totally pushed to the corner. When economicsrules, when economics is the only thing that youthink about, you will tend to become very grossand unhappy in so many ways. We are conductingvarious levels of programs for top level executivesin major corporations in the world. What I see is,people who have failed in their lives, they aresuffering their failure. People who have succeededin their life, they are suffering their success. If yousuffer your failure it is okay, because failure comeseasy. But something that you worked for, somethingthat you always longed for, something that youwanted to createin your life, when this happens,if you start suffering it, that is the real tragedy oflife.If you look at yourself and see, when youwere five years of age, how happy you were, andtoday, how happy you are. If we make a chart outof it, is it moving upward or downward? Intwenty-four hours time, how many moments are6
Inner Managementyou really happy? If you look at this, is the graphgoing up or down? Down. So that means you area bad manager, because after all, everything thatyou do in your life is in pursuit of happiness. Youeducate yourself, you pursue careers, you buildfamilies, you run after your ambitions. So manythings you do, because somewhere you believefulfilling those things will bring you happiness.After doing all that, if happiness is not multiplying,it is going down, that means you are a badmanager of yourself.Anybody who does not know how to managehis own body, his own mind, his own emotion andhis energies, if he is managing outside situations,he is only managing them by accident, not by intentthe way he wants it. When you manage situationsby accident, you exist as an accident. When youexist as an accident, you are a potential calamity.When you exist as a potential calamity, beinganxious all the time becomes a natural part of life.7
Anywhere you go today, people are talkingstress management, especially in the United States.I cannot understand why anybody wants to managehis stress. I can understand if you want to manageyour business, your finances, your family, yourproperty, whatever, but why would you want tomanage stress? It took me a while to understandthese people have come to the conclusion that ifthey do things in the world, they are bound to bestressful.Someone is not stressful because of what heis doing; someone is stressful because he doesn'tknow how to manage his own inner system. It is notthe nature of the job which makes one stressful.You ask the top executive, he is stressful; you askthe office hand, he is also stressful. Everybodybelieves their job is stressful. No job is stressful.If you have no control over your own innersystem, you will be stressful whether you dosomething or you don't do anything.8
Inner ManagementFundamentally, management means wewant to decide the course of our destiny. You wantto have a certain kind of situation, both inward andoutward. So everybody is a manager in his owncapacity, but in different levels and different types.Whether you manage a kitchen where you cook for4 people, or you manage a large industry where10,000 people work, fundamentally, if you want tohave a good kitchen or a good industry, you must bea good manager of that situation, isn't it?If you have to manage 10 people or 10,000people around you, you have to manage 10 minds or10,000 minds around you, but if you have nomanagement over your own mind, you managing10,000 minds is going to be a disaster. If in theprocess of managing a situation we are destroyinghuman beings, which is happening right now, thenthis kind of management is no good, because afterall, the basic intent of every management is humanwell being. If management is for human well being,9
it is not only about producing something or makingprofit; people should rise to their full potential, notjust in terms of work, but as human beings.If people work together, they should be able torise to the peak of their love, peace, compassionwithin themselves.So if this kind of management has to happen,that you and the people around you rise to theirpeak, then you have to spend a certain amountof time in focusing on your inner management.If this doesn't happen, you will only managesituations by accident. Lots of people haveunderstood management as a way of throwingtheir weight around. Can I tell you a joke?On a certain day, a lion was really feelinggreat within himself. He was just walking in theforest and came across a little rabbit, he caughthim and roared at him, “Who is the king of thejungle?” The little rabbit, terrified said, “You, you,10
Inner Managementof course you!” He let him go, swaggered arounda little bit, then he found a fox, caught him, “Who isthe king of the jungle?” “Oh my Lord, it's youof course, nobody else but you!” He swaggeredaround a little more, caught a few more animals,everybody screamed out of fear, “You are theking of the jungle!” Then he was in full swaggerlike a manager, king of the jungle, walked intoa clearing, there, there was a huge tusker standing.He went, stood in front of him and asked, “Who isthe king of the jungle?” The tusker picked him upwith his trunk, rolled him up, picked him up,twirled him around and smashed him to theground. His back broke. Then the lion said, “Youcould have just told me.” But the tusker replied,“You see, I had to make my point.” [Laughs] So a lotof people generally are thinking managementmeans just throwing their weight around.Throwing your weight around is not management;any fool can do that.11
If you manage a situation, not just thingshappening there, people should feel elevated justbeing in that space. Above all, you must feelwonderful being there. So, if this has to happen,you need an inner dimension. When I say “innerdimension”, I am not just talking about the body orthe mind, because both this body and mind yougathered from outside in certain ways.For example, when you were a child, thisphysical body was only this small, now it hasbecome this much. What you call as “body” is justa piece of earth, that you converted into food andmade into body, isn't it? So this body is just a heap offood that you gathered over a period of time. Whatyou call as “my mind” is a heap of impressions thatyou gathered from outside. Now you have a heap offood and a heap of impressions. If you are capableof gathering such a large body and so much mind,there must be something more fundamental thanthis, but that never comes into your experience.12
Inner ManagementYou are just lost in these two heaps, trying to makesome sense out of it.Now as there is a management science forexternal well being, there is also a managementscience for inner well being. It is just that most ofthe time we have not approached it scientifically,we just believe that by doing something, somehoweverything will be okay. Right now people arethinking, by educating themselves, by getting a job,by making money, or by getting married they aregoing to be happy ever after, but after some time,they will discover, it is not so. Though repeatedlyit has let them down, still they believe thatsomething else, some other miracle will makeeverything okay. It will not be okay.It once happened, on a certain day, a bulland a pheasant were grazing on the field. The bullwas grazing on the grass, the pheasant was pickingticks off the bull; they are partners, you know?13
Then the pheasant looked at a huge tree whichwas at the edge of the field, and very nostalgicallysaid, ”Alas, there was a time when I could fly to thetopmost branch of the tree, but today I do not havethe strength even to fly to the first branch of thetree.“ The bull very nonchalantly said, ”That's noproblem! Eat a little bit of my dung everyday, youwill see, within a fortnight's time you will reachthe top of the tree.“ The pheasant said, ”Oh, comeoff it!How is that possible?“ The bull replied,”Really, please try and see. The whole humanity ison it, you could try, too.“Very hesitantly, the pheasant started peckingat the dung, and lo on the very first day it reachedthe first branch of the tree. In a fortnight's time,it reached the topmost branch of the tree. It justwent and sat on the topmost branch and justenjoyed the scenery. The old farmer saw a fat oldpheasant on the top of the tree. He took out hisshotgun and shot him off the tree. So the moral of14
Inner Managementthe story is: even bullshit can get you to the top,but never lets you stay there. [Everybody laughs]So if you are seeking a life of fulfillment, joy,peace and well being within yourself, don't try tofool yourself in some way. You must do the rightthing, otherwise it won't work. As a manager youknow that unless you do the right thing, it doesn'twork with the outside. The same goes with theinside; unless you do the right thing, it just doesn'twork. You may just fool yourself to believe that thisor that will make you alright. Yes, for a moment,but the next moment you crash. Please see.Successful people, unsuccessful people, justlook at their lives and see, in twenty-four hourshow many moments are they really joyful? You goon the street and see, how many joyful faces doyou see on the street? Very, very few, isn't it so?If you see any, usually they are young faces. Facesover 30 are all long faces. What has happened15
to them? For most of them, their lives have workedout far better than they ever imagined. If you look atyour generation, never before another generationof people have been this comfortable and thiswell physically as you are right now, isn't it?No other generation has known these kinds ofcomforts and conveniences, but still, are you anyhappier than what people were? This is simplybecause you just applied external management,not inner management.In the process of creating what we want, inpursuit of our happiness, we are just destroyingthe very source of our life, this planet; we aremaking a bonfire out of it. But still we are notsatisfied, nor are we any more joyful than whatpeople were five hundred years ago. Somewherewe have neglected the interiority. So to turninward, what is needed? One reason why mostyoung people here have never made any effortto turn inward is because today any thinking16
Inner Managementperson, the moment he can read A, B, C, speakEnglish, and has extra characters next to his name,he develops an allergy towards anything spiritual.This is not your fault. These so-called spiritualpeople have made such jokers out of themselves.They have presented spirituality in such terrible,ridiculous ways, that anybody who has any sensedoesn't want to go anywhere near it.Spirituality means, to know somethingwhich is beyond the physical. Right now, if youexist as a physical entity - as a body, as a mind whatever happens outside, will happen inside also.If what happens outside also happens withinyou all the time, then you being peaceful andhappy is always accidental. It doesn't matter whoyou are, how powerful you are, how greata manager you are, external situations will neverbe one hundred percent in your control. Even ifyou are just two people in the family, still youdon't have absolute control over the situation,17
isn't it so? As the scope and play of your lifeincreases, you have less and less control over thesituations in which you live. That is the reality oflife.Only when a person begins to experiencea dimension beyond the physical within himself,then he can play with the physical world whicheverway he wants, he can do the best that he can do inthe outside world, but the interiority isundisturbed. If your body, if your mind, if youremotions, if your energies are not functioningthe way you want them to, then this is the worstkind of slavery, because somebody else decideswhat should happen within you. If somebodyelse decides what should happen around you,thatitself you call as slavery. But if someonedecides what should happen within you, is it nota more horrible way of being a slave? But pleasesee, the whole world is in this slavery. The onlyconsolation is everybody is like this.18
Inner ManagementPeople are learning management as a scienceto apply to outer situations; I would like them tounderstand that there is a whole science of innermanagement also. If you don't learn that, you maymanage businesses, you may manage industry, butstill you will not live a life of fulfillment and wellbeing. If you want to live a life of fulfillment andwell being and offer the same to people around you,it is extremely important you know what it meansto manage your interiority.I don't know how you felt as a child in school.I always looked at the teacher; if he puts his heartinto it, I was willing to be there, otherwise I wasout. Somewhere, right from my childhood, theeducation that I received, though they sent me tothe best possible schools around, it didn't meananything to me because my sense of listening andlooking at people was such: When the teacherswere talking whatever - Chemistry, Biology orMathematics, one thing I could clearly see was,19
whatever they were saying didn't mean a damnthing to them. And I was not willing to listen tosomebody who talks something which doesn'tmean anything to him.I have so many things on my agenda;twenty-four hours are packed with too manythings. I am not willing to spend an hour or evenfive minutes listening to someone who is talkingsomething which doesn't mean anything to him.Even if he is talking nonsense it doesn't matter,if it means something to him, I am willing tolisten to it. But if he is talking great things whichdon't mean anything to him, I am not willing tolisten to him. So as a part of this, almost ninetypercent of my college time I was outside, only tenpercent inside. Only when I saw somebody whowas talking something with passion, I was there.I am happy to see if somebody is talkingwith some passion about what he is doing.20
Inner ManagementIt doesn't matter if what he is doing is right,wrong, okay, perfect or not; but someone has puthis heart into it, so it is okay. Our lives becomebeautiful not because we are perfect. Our livesbecome beautiful because we put our heart intowhat we are doing. It doesn't matter what we aredoing. Whether we are sweeping the floor, ormanaging the country, or whatever we are doing.If we are putting our heart into what we are doing,it is beautiful to be doing that activity. Living inan atmosphere where people are passionate aboutwhat they are doing itself is highly enriching.There is always a certain excitement onceyou are stepping into a new dimension of life.Let's say somebody got a job, the first day whenthey went and sat behind this table, this tablewas the most fantastic place in the world; butwithin a few years, behind the same table theyare manufacturing blood pressure, diabetes,ulcers and what not. This is not because there is21
something wrong with the jobs that we do, this isnot because there is something wrong with theworld that we live in, it is simply because we havenot paid sufficient attention to ourselves. We havepaid too much attention to what is outside.People are always thinking great aspirationswill make them successful in the world.Aspiration is just an initial starting point, justbecause you aspired for success, just because youaspired for prosperity, just because you aspiredfor well-being, it doesn't happen. Success,prosperity, well-being happens because you havemade yourself capable of creating those things.Everybody aspires. Who is not aspiring for successin the world? Even a beggar on the street is tryingto be a successful beggar, isn't it so? Everyhuman being is aspiring for it, but only thosewho have made themselves capable will succeed.Making yourself capable, not only in terms of22
Inner Managementmanagement skills and other things - though thatis needed too - but making yourself capable asa human being.It is my wish and my blessing that managerswill manage this world, this country, thiscommunity and the business and commerce, whichis part of our existence today in the world, ina much better way than the previous generationshave done; because externally we are betterequipped than ever before. If managers andleaders equip themselves for internal managementalso, I'm sure that they would manage this world,this nation and the communities in a much,much better way than it has been done till now.When it comes to management, there is nosuch thing as perfect management. It is just thatif people give themselves absolutely to whatthey are doing, things will happen. Right now,the whole Isha Foundation with hundreds of23
centers in India and outside the country is run byyoung people. People who have been with us forfourteen, fifteen years, they are just in their earlythirties now; no senior people, no experiencedpeople, just young people, raw hands. I took this asa challenge to make it happen through them, notusing any kind of experience. I'm not againstexperience, but I wanted to make a statement thatincredible things can be done, not because weknow how to do it. Incredible things can be donesimply because we are committed that we wantit to happen, that's all.Today, Isha Foundation has grown intoa voluntary organization with over 200,000 activevolunteers around the world, and we have takenup enormous projects of social significance. Allthese things are handled by volunteers, they arenot paid for it. So people who manage thesesituations, very young people, without anyqualifications, they are such fantastic managers24
Inner Managementof people. The way they manage the situations,the way they conduct thousands of people has setsuch an exemplary example in the communitythere. I know you need to learn about finance,this, that, banking and those kinds of things, butfundamentally management is your ability toinspire people to do their best and that is all youcan do. If everybody around you is doing hisbest, that is the best possible management thatcan happen.So this is not going to come withmanipulation. This is only going to come withdedication, this is only going to come with love,this is only going to come because you are willingto give yourself a hundred percent to the personwho is sitting next to you at that moment. Oh, isall this possible? Is it not all utopian? You thinkthis is the reality in the corporate sector? I amtelling you, we are working in prisons, we areworking in rural areas, we are working with25
major corporations in the world, it doesn't matterwhat kind of person you meet. If you just learn totouch the core of his humanity, then you will seeevery human being is willing to do his best for you,always. If you just learn how to touch the very coreof a human being who is around you right now,you will see everybody is willing to lay their livesdown for you.Only if people around you love you andthey want to do the best for you, you will not getulcers doing management. If people around youare trying to pull you down, you will anyway getulcers trying to manage situations, isn't it so?If you do not have the people who truly love youand want to give their best, then management isgoing to be a pain, management is going to bea huge suffering. Only when people around youreally want to do the best for you, only thenmanagement can happen wonderfully.26
Inner ManagementOur lives become beautiful not because ofwhat we do, our lives becomes beautiful simplybecause we have included everybody around us asa part of our dream of well being.27
Isha FoundationSadhguru's tireless efforts towards bringinghuman well-being to all serve as the inspirationbehind Isha Foundation's activities. Set up as anon-profit, non-political, and non-religiousorganization, the Foundation does not promote anyparticular ideology, religion, or race, but transmitsinner sciences of well-being to multitudes of peopleacross the world. In addition, it has also pioneeredseveral projects of immense social value.Isha Foundation functions through over 150centers worldwide. It is enabled by thousands ofactive volunteers from Asia, Middle East, Europe,and the U.S., whose dedication, compassion, andspirit serve as an example of an inspired humanity.29
Isha Yoga CenterThe Isha Yoga Center is located on 150 acresof lush land, at the foothills of the VelliangiriMountains. The center provides a supportiveenvironment in which people can shift to healthierlifestyles, improve their relationships, seek a higherlevel of self-fulfillment, and realize their fullpotential under the guidance of a Master.It houses the Dhyanalinga, a multi-religioustemple and meditation shrine, and thearchitecturally distinctive Spanda Hall and garden a 64,000 sq.ft meditation hall. Also located at theYoga Center are the Isha Rejuvenation Center andIsha Home School.DhyanalingaDhyanalinga is a powerful and uniqueenergy form created from the distilled essence ofyogic sciences, by Sadhguru, and is the first of itskind to be completed in over 2,000 years.Dhyanalinga is a meditative space that does not30
ascribe to any particular faith or belief system nordoes it require any ritual, prayer, or worship.Isha Yoga ProgramsIsha Yoga programs allow individuals to taketangible steps towards their inner growth. Theseprograms are designed by Sadhguru and are a rareopportunity for self-discovery under the guidanceof a realized Master.An array of programs is conducted regularlyby the Foundation worldwide. These programsestablish optimal health and vitality, enhancedmental calm and clarity, and instill a deep sense ofjoy. They can be easily integrated into one'severyday life and embrace the human effort toreach inner awareness.Action for Rural RejuvenationAction for Rural Rejuvenation (ARR) is IshaFoundation's social outreach program, initiated inAu g u s t2003.ARRaimsatp r ov i d i n gcomprehensive and ongoing rural rehabilitation31
services, such as free medical relief, yoga programs,nature awareness programs, and community gamesto the heart of the rural communities of India;creating the opportunity for the villagers, includingwomen and children, to take responsibility for theirown lives, and restore and reach their ultimate wellbeing. So far ARR has helped over a million people,in more than 1,000 villages, in the southern states ofIndia.Isha RejuvenationSurrounded by thick forests, at thetranquil foothills of the Velliangiri Mountains,Isha Rejuvenation helps individuals to experienceinner peace and the joy of a healthy body. It offersa unique and powerful combination of programs,scientifically designed by Sadhguru, to bring vibrancyand proper balance to one's life energies. Theprograms contain a synthesis of allopathic, ayurvedicand siddha treatments, and complementarytherapies, along with the sublime wisdom of variousancient Indian sciences and spirituality.32
All the proceeds of Isha Rejuvenationcontribute towards providing free health care to therural villagers, under the ARR initiative.Isha Home SchoolIsha Home School aims at providing qualityeducation in a challenging and stimulating homelike environment, designed specifically for theinner blossoming and the well-roundeddevelopment of the child.With its prominent international faculty andSadhguru's personal involvement in thecurriculum, Isha Home School kindles the innateurge within a child to learn and know. Focus isgiven to inculcating life values and living skillswhilst maintaining the rigor of academic excellenceas per national and international standards. It doesnot propagate any particular religion, philosophy orideology, but rather encourages the child to seeka deeper experience and inner understanding of thefundamentals of life.33
Isha VidhyaAn initiative under Isha Education Outreach,Isha Vidhya is a visionary project by Sadhguru thataims to empower rural children with world classeducation. The school adheres to matriculationsyllabus with English as the medium of instructionalong with exposure to computers, music, arts, yogaand vocational training.The project envisions setting up of 206schools over the next 5 years in rural Tamil Nadu,one in each taluk of the state.Isha Business Pvt. LtdIsha Business Pvt. Ltd is a venture that aimsto bring a touch of Isha into the homes andenvironment of the community, and ultimatelyenrich people's lives. This opportunity is madeavailable through its numerous products andservices, from architectural designs, construction,34
interiordesign,furnituredesignandmanufacturing, landscape design, handicrafts andsoft furnishings, to designer outfits fromIsha Raiment.All profits from this venture are used to servethe rural people of India, through IshaFoundation's ARR initiative.How to Get ThereIsha Yoga Center is located 30 kms west ofCoimbatore, at the foothills of VelliangiriMountains, part of the Nilgiris Biosphere.Coimbatore, a major industrial city in South India,is well connected by air, rail and road. All majorairlines operate regular flights into Coimbatorefrom Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore. Trainservices are available from all the major cities inIndia. Regular bus and taxi services are alsoavailable from Coimbatore to Isha Yoga Center.35
Visitors should contact Isha Yoga Center foravailability and reservation of accommodation wellin advance of arrival to the center, as they aregenerally fully booked.Isha Yoga CenterVelliangiri Foothills, Semmedu (P.O.),Coimbatore 641 114, INDIA.Telephone: 091-422-2615345Email: yogacenter@ishafoundation.orgIsha Foundation, Inc.191 Anthony Dr.McMinnville, TN - 37110, USATelephone: 866-424-ISHAEmail: info@ishafoundation.orgIsha Foundation, LebanonHarat El Faouka Street,Broumana EI Matn, Lebanon.Telephone: 00961-3915-601Email: lebanon@ishafoundation.orgFor worldwide program information visitwww.ishafoundation.org36
Further Reading.² Encounter the Enlightened(also in French, Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu)² Mystic’s Musings² Eternal Echoes² Dhyanalinga - A Silent RevolutionMusic CDs (Audio)²² Eternal Echoes - Poems by Sadhguru² Sounds of Isha² Nadha Aradhana² Dhyanalinga by Sudha Ragunathan² Dhyanalinga by Bala Murali Krishna² Nadha Bhrahma(Mystical renditions in Sadhguru's own voice)37
Video Discourses - VCDs² A Guru Always Takes You for a Ride² Dissolving Your Personality² From Creation to Creator² Inner Management² Why Suffering?² Women in Spirituality² A Culture of Peace² Inspire Your Child, Inspire the World² Good and Bad Divide the World² Sexuality and the Divine² Isha - Sacred Space for Self Transformation² Ancient Wisdom for the Modern Mind² Circus of the Intellect² Enlightenment Life the Way it is² A Taste of Oneness² Leave Death Alone38
Audio Discourses - ACDs² A Guru Always Takes You for a Ride² Dissolving your Personality² From Creation to Creator² Inner Management² Why Suffering?² Women in Spirituality² A Culture of Peace² Sexuality and the Div
In this volume, Sadhguru shifts our focus to the inside, pointing out a way to establish a true sense of inner peace and wellbeing by applying 'Inner Management'. Inner Management. S a d h g u ru Isha Foundation Inner Management. S a d h g u ru Isha Foundation Inner Management.
