Professional Documents
Culture Documents
In this edition, we focus on relationships, particularly on the traditionally lifelong bond between two
individuals. In the past few decades, divorce rates have been rising worldwide, and as the social and
While marriage is a union of two people, the article “Three in One Shot” is about a union of a different
kind. Find out why the number three plays a pivotal role in yogic practices, though we ultimately aim
at oneness. But whatever we may aim at, only Grace can make it a reality. This leads us to the 60th (!)
part of our Leela series and the question “How Grace Works.” If you are wondering to what extent God
or Guru is aware of your day-to-day events and pulling the strings, find out how it actually happens
on page 9 f. In the article “When Hesitation is a ‘Sin,’” Sadhguru answers a meditator’s question that
arose from Krishna’s advice to Arjuna: Under what circumstances is immediate action in order, and
when would it be rash and foolish?
Also in this issue: Sadhguru indicates “A Different Approach to Addiction” that, if applied, could
be path-breaking in the prevention and treatment of addiction. Especially for those who consider
Published from 117/50, Luz Church Road, Mylapore, Chennai – 600 004
Published by: B. RAJESH CHANDER on behalf of ISHA FOUNDATION
relocating, the article “Does It Matter Where You Live?” provides invaluable decision-making support.
In our Hatha Yoga series, we look at the purpose of a few fundamental instructions for our practice:
“Close Your Eyes / Toe to Toe / Heel to Perineum.” The article “Down to Business” offers us a peak into
the 2013 edition of INSIGHT – The DNA of Success. Our “Dry Fruit Barfi” recipe allows you to treat
yourself, your family, and your friends with a sweet indulgence this Diwali. Enjoy without remorse!
To receive free downloadable PDF versions of Isha Forest Flower along with your print subscription,
please submit your subscription number and email address at www.ishafoundation.org/Online-
Community/forest-flower-subscribers.isa
Editorial Team:
Isha Forest Flower c/o Isha Yoga Center, Semmedu P.O., Velliangiri Foothills, Coimbatore – 641114
forestflower@ishafoundation.org
The experience is beautiful because you fell. Not Devotion means it is your intention to dissolve
because they raised you, not because they walked into your object of devotion. As a devotee, you
over you – you actually had the sense of abandon in don’t think about whether you become a doormat
you to fall. The beauty of your love affair was not in or a crown on someone’s head. Whatever you
what they gave you, not what they did to you. You become is fine with you, as long as you can touch
sat alone and thought you really loved this person that one’s feet or head or whatever else. That’s a
so much you were willing to die – that was the most different state of existence. I don’t think someone
beautiful moment. Not the moment they gave you who is looking for a domestic level of love affair
a big gift, not the moment they gave you a diamond should even ask that question.
ring, not the moment they said this and that about
Krishna was not present when the Kauravas tried to receptive, Grace works. For those who are not
disrobe Draupadi in public. He was not even aware receptive, Grace does not work.
of the scene because when he was about to go to the
Rajasuya Yagna, Shalva, a king who held a grudge In a similar vein, Udhava once asked Krishna, “In
against him, came and raided Dwaraka. He and many situations, I have seen beyond any doubt that
his men killed people and burnt homes, cattle and you are a divine manifestation. There is so much
everything. Those of the Yadavas who managed to about you which is beyond man. But then how
escape ran into the forest in the mountains and hid come people are struggling and you cannot handle
there. On top of that, Shalva kidnapped Krishna’s their problems with a snap of your fingers?” Krishna
father Vasudeva and took him away. By the time smilingly said, “No one can work a miracle unless the
Krishna reached Dwaraka, the whole place was recipient is in full faith. Even the great Mahadeva
burnt and devastated, and the survivors were all cannot work a miracle unless there is receptivity
hiding in the mountains. When they saw him, they and faith. When people are not receptive, you
came back down. He organized the reestablishment cannot expect miracles.”
of the community and the reconstruction of the
There is a beautiful story: one day, Krishna was
city and sent his son to go and somehow achieve
having lunch. Satyabhama was serving him. Halfway
the release of his kidnapped father. Since he was
through the meal, he got up and said, “One of my
involved in all this, he was not aware of what was
devotees is in trouble. I need to go.” He washed his
going on in Hastinapur.
hands and went. Just before the gate, he suddenly
If Krishna was not even aware of Draupadi’s stopped, turned around, and came back. Satyabhama
predicament, how did he reach out to her? How asked, “You left midway through lunch, saying your
did this miracle happen that she was guarded? This devotee is in trouble, but then you turned back.
is a question of Grace. People constantly ask me What happened?” Krishna said, “A devotee of mine
this – some gently, some sarcastically, some in an was chanting, ‘Krishna, Krishna,’ with eyes closed.
accusing manner – how does Grace work? For Grace A hungry tiger approached him. The man would
to function, I need not be mentally aware of what have gotten killed, so I thought I will reach out and
is happening to you. Through an initiation into a I left. But by the time I was near the gate, the fool
spiritual process [such as Shambhavi Mahamudra], a had picked up a stone – so I turned back.”
certain investment of energy has been made, which
For Grace to function, the person who is the source
functions as Grace. If I wish to be aware of what
of that Grace does not need to be mentally aware
is happening with someone, I can be aware. But
of the situation. The investment of energy that
most of the time, I do not wish to be aware because
has been made through the initiation functions by
too many things are going on. For those who are
Sadhguru: There are many ways to look at this. This You know, yoga started with Adiyogi, and one of
is a dialectical culture. A story will say one thing, his names is Tripurantaka. I will cut the story short
but it means something else. It is intentionally because with Indian stories, even a sub-story will
structured that way to evolve our logic. If you last for days, and this is intentional, because the idea
approach everything in life 100% logically, you will of the story is to take you logically into an illogical
be very crude. Somewhere you have to touch the realm. Otherwise, it is very difficult for a human
gray. If everything is black or white for you, no one being to rest your logic because that is the only
can be with you. You think you are logically correct thing that has seen you through life till now.
but no one can stand you because it is gross logic.
Therefore, we evolved another kind of logic. If I say, “Rest it. Surrender. We will do something
with you,” you may say, “Yes,” but you will hold
In modern science, they call it “fuzzy logic,” which is on to your logic. If something does not fit into your
a good way to describe it. But this here is more than logic, your mind will naturally reject it. So the story
fuzzy logic – this is dialectical culture. Most Asian logically takes you to a place beyond your present
countries and large parts of Africa are dialectical level of logic. I will not tell you the whole story
cultures, but here in India, we evolved this into a because that would take a whole day.
This rakshasa king became very powerful, so Tri-pura means “three cities.” Tripurantaka means
powerful he built three cities floating in the sky. “one who ended Tripura.” The story of Shiva
He ruled these cities and whenever he wanted, demolishing all the three cities with a single arrow
he came to the earth and ravaged it. There was no refers to the three fundamental dimensions of who
competition for him. He was such a warrior and his you are. This can be expressed in many different
armies were so strong, no one could stop him. He ways. In terms of qualities, these three dimensions
terrorized all the others – human beings and gods. are called tamas, rajas, and satva. In terms of physical
At that time, the god population in the country manifestation, we call them pingala, sushumna, and
was more than the human population. We had 333 ida. These three nadis1 are the manifestation of
million gods, even then, and not that many people. who you are. Then there are the three forces earth,
moon, and sun. And the three dimensions of one’s
That many gods and yet this man had no sanctity for existence here: past, present, and future. Essentially,
anything. He just ravaged everything that he saw. life is happening between these three. You can see it
No one could kill him; no one could conquer him. as past, present, and future. Or you can see it as ida,
They called all the devas. All the heroes went to sushumna, and pingala. Or you can see it as earth,
fight against him, but he not only vanquished them, sun, and moon. If you try to conquer only one out
he disgraced them in every possible way. He made of the three, you will be on an endless ride because
sure that he was the power. At that time, Shiva the three are internally one. In yoga and in spiritual
had his eyes closed. They went to him and pleaded process, a lot of people are trying to take charge of
for years, but he did not open his eyes – he was only one thing, which is a desperate endeavor.
somewhere else. Then Vishnu found a way to make
The message is: unless you shoot all three of them
at once, you will never be victorious. It is a spiritual
message given in an elaborate story. How he became
a Tripurantaka is a whole book by itself. How he
fought the Tripura, the many weapons he used, what
all happened – all these things describe the struggles
of a human being trying to conquer one aspect of his
life. Someone wants to conquer his mind without
conquering his energy – he can try as hard as he
wants – it is not going to happen. Someone tries to
discipline the body without taking charge of the
mind and energy – do what you want, it is not going
to happen. Mind, body, energy; sun, moon, earth –
all these are three. Unless they are shot with a single
arrow, they will not fall.
1 Energy channels
Part 10
Close Your Eyes being, the vision is the most dominant sense. By
contrast, a dog for example perceives the world
Questioner: Sadhguru, why should we keep our
through its sense of smell. It knows who you are
eyes closed in most of the asanas?
not by looking at you but by smelling you. But
for a human being, since your vision is the most
Sadhguru: If you close your eyes, the world
dominant sense for you, once you close your eyes,
disappears, unless you have your own false world
half the world is shut off. Therefore, internalization
in your head. Right now, I am looking at you – if
works best when your eyes are closed.
I close my eyes, you are gone for me. Unless your
imagination is running wild because you have no Toe to Toe
control over it, if you close your eyes, the world
is gone for you. When you do an asana, you want Questioner: Sadhguru, why should the big toes or
to internalize everything. One basic step towards heels touch in certain asanas?
any internalization is to close your eyes. If you
Sadhguru: When you bend forward, your heels
eat something very good, if something hurts, if
should always touch because the mooladhara 1
something is nice, if you really want to experience
should be tight. Otherwise, bending forward, there
something, you close your eyes. This happens
is a natural movement towards the mooladhara,
naturally when you want to internalize something,
which we want to arrest. In a way, the sole of the
because out of the five senses, your vision is the
foot is a minor manifestation of the whole body. If
most outwardly engaging process.
the toes touch, suddenly the whole system functions
If you lose your vision, you lose 50% of your differently. You will see in India, if somebody dies,
engagement with the world. The other four senses – they will take an organic string and tie the big
toes together, as this prevents certain things from
smell, touch, taste, and hearing – together make
entering the system.
up for the remaining 50%. If you lose your vision,
your sense of hearing and your sense of smell will You do not always know what atmosphere you are
improve, but fundamentally, especially for a human in. When the big toes touch, you do not take in what
1 The first and fundamental chakra or in the human energy system
Tackling a Slowdown could come back into activity with much more
vigor. Rest is the basis of all activity. If the business
Interviewer: Let me begin with you, Sadhguru. You
is getting a little bit of rest, it could be a phenomenal
wrote that “If you have money in your pocket, it
advantage, unless the rest lasts for too long.
is great. Only if it enters your head, it becomes a
perversion.” Right now, there is a real fear that the In the present situation, the rest will not last for
money is not even coming into the pocket. What do too long because businesses are not limited to
we do in times like these? geographical boundaries. People can always rejig
themselves and move to other areas where they
Sadhguru: The money is still going into someone’s
could function better. There are many possibilities.
pocket, though maybe not into a kind of pocket
But fundamentally, instead of cutting back on
that will use it to create wellbeing and wealth for
human resources, why not bring them in in a
humanity at large.
friendly manner and ask them to share the burden
and keep their colleagues. That way, you can pass
Times like these, when there is a certain slowdown,
through this period of rest with a certain level of
hurt because you have prepared yourself in terms
bonding and togetherness and be ready for the next
of man, material, everything, for a certain speed.
level of action.
Suddenly, when there is slowdown, you have excess
capacity and not enough to do. When such a thing
Global Economic Outlook
happens, normally, most companies in the world
go for retrenchment. They want to cut down their Interviewer: Ram, do you believe the global
staff. There is a difference between cutting down on situation is going to get better sooner than later?
your stocks of material and cutting down on people
who work for you. Modern management tends to Ram: Yeah. Let me make three points. Point number
treat both the same way. one – I totally agree with Sadhguru. Point number
two – I see by the fourth quadrant next year [2014]
I would say there is a different way to approach a global economy running at 4.5 %. I clearly see the
this. Instead of cutting down people, why not sit United States economy on the positive track. I am
down with them and let them take a cut on their very happy for 7% economy growth in China. I see
salary and use the saved amount to retrain them in India, no matter which government comes, more
into a new possibility? There may be a slowdown than 5% growth. Brazil is still in a slump. Germany
in your current field of activity, but definitely, there clearly comes back. Greece etc. are really behind.
are other opportunities. You can use such a time to So, I am very positive but not too bullish.
retrain yourself and people around you and retool
everything. If instead of looking at it as recession, Third point. I learned this from a chairman in
you look at it as a period of rest, after a while you India – whenever there is an adversity, whenever
Bannerghatta
81052 49089
8–14 Oct 2014 Inner Engineering Main Road,
bangalore@ishayoga.org
Bangalore – India
Inner Engineering
Isha Yoga Center, 0422-2515421
9–12 Oct 2014 Retreat
Coimbatore – India ieretreat@ishafoundation.org
Residential Program
Inner Engineering
30 Oct – Isha Yoga Center, 0422-2515421
Retreat
2 Nov 2014 Coimbatore – India ieretreat@ishafoundation.org
Residential Program
These programs are conducted in English, unless indicated otherwise. Current at the time of print, however subject
to change. For full program schedules and updates, please visit our website: www.ishafoundation.org.
Ingredients
1 l Milk
100 g Grated khoa
(or thick condensed milk without sugar)
1/4 cup Cane sugar
1/4 tsp. Cardamom powder
1/4 tsp. Nutmeg powder
1 pinch Saffron
1/4 cup Powdered cashew nuts
7 Almonds (chopped)
2 tbsp. Chopped walnuts
2 Dried figs (chopped)
2 tbsp. Pistachios
1/2 tsp Oil
Preparation Method
1. Bring the milk to a boil in a heavy bottomed pan, stirring continuously on a low flame until
the milk reduces to half (approx. 30 to 35 minutes).
2. Add the grated khoa, powdered cashew nuts, sugar, spices, chopped nuts (except pistachios)
and chopped figs and continue cooking on a very low flame until the milk further thickens
and the mixture leaves the sides of the pan.
3. Lightly grease the back of a steel plate with oil. Pour this mixture on the greased, inverted
steel plate. Flatten with a greased bowl to half-inch thickness.
4. Sprinkle the top with chopped pistachios and lightly pat the surface again. Keep in the
refrigerator to cool and firm up. Only after it is thoroughly cooled, cut it into squares.
Tip: Enjoy and offer this delicious sweet with nuts and dry fruits as a somewhat healthier
alternative to the regular Diwali fair.
1 A traditional Indian dairy product, made by heating milk in an iron pan until it is reduced to a lump
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Published from 117/50, Luz Church Road, Mylapore, Chennai – 600 004
Published by: B. RAJESH CHANDER on behalf of ISHA FOUNDATION
relocating, the article “Does It Matter Where You Live?” provides invaluable decision-making support.
In our Hatha Yoga series, we look at the purpose of a few fundamental instructions for our practice:
“Close Your Eyes / Toe to Toe / Heel to Perineum.” The article “Down to Business” offers us a peak into
the 2013 edition of INSIGHT – The DNA of Success. Our “Dry Fruit Barfi” recipe allows you to treat
yourself, your family, and your friends with a sweet indulgence this Diwali. Enjoy without remorse!
The Editorial Team
Isha Forest Flower – ONLINE!
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forestflower@ishafoundation.org
2 ISHA FOREST FLOWER October 2014
Volume - 2 / Issue - 10 `15 Annual Subscription `180 October 2014
Peril of Pride
Of anger, hate, greed and Pride
which is a greater folly
Anger for sure will make
you burn and cause distress
or death to the other. Hate
surrogate of anger, more
overt and consuming but
a child of anger. Greed
seems to have nothing to do
with the above two but breeds
anger and hate towards all
that thwart the insatiable
fire of greed. As there is not
Registered with the Registrar of Newspapers for India under No. TNENG/2013/53333
anything that can fulfill the
gastronomy of greed.
Pride though looks pretty
and makes one perky
takes the pride of place
Corridors of life
in destroying all possibilities
Registered with Patrika Channel Egmore RMS under Registration No. TN/CH(C)/492/14 –16. Published on 2nd of every month – October 2014
to play. Pride is a crown
of thorns that makes
one perceive even pain as
pleasure. Pride is the
Maya, the delusion of life.
Refinement of ignorance
Is not Enlightenment.
Grace & Blessings