EDITORIAL

Dear Readers,

This month, we bring you the second part of the immensely enlightening
conversation between Deepak Chopra and Sadhguru. With the question, “Where
Does Consciousness Come From?” they go into the core of spiritual seeking.
In our Lead Article “The Other Side of the Mirror,” Sadhguru likens the mind to
a mirror, on the other side of which lies the very source of our existence. He
not only explains the connection between time, space, and the mind, but also
suggests practical methods to get to the other side.

In this month’s Mahabharat article, Sadhguru addresses a question about the

scriptural image of the last avatar of Vishnu, Kalki, coming down on a white,
winged horse at the end of Kaliyuga. On page 10 et seq., Sadhguru reveals “The
Truth about Kalki.” The question of reality or imagination also features in our
first Musings article, though in a different context. Have you ever asked yourself
if your “Ishtadevata” is real? If so, this article is for you.

Also in this issue: an overview of Sadhguru’s recent events in pictures; an

update on Isha’s Government School Adoption Program in Andhra Pradesh; “A
Yogi’s Legacy” – how the mahasamadhi of a yogi impacts the space he chooses;
and “Beyond Comfort” – how hatha yoga supports absolute involvement and a
different kind of “toughness.”

With this month’s recipe, a traditional Gujarati “Bottle Gourd Muthiya,” we give
you a sneak peek into Isha’s new recipe book A Taste of Wellbeing that will
be launched this Mahashivaratri. To adequately prepare yourself for this great
night of Shiva, Sadhguru has devised a special sadhana. For more details, see
page 20 and visit the Isha Blog. We are looking forward to having you with us for
the most exuberant celebration of the year in Isha!

The Editorial Team

Contact the Editorial Team:

Isha Forest Flower, Isha Yoga Center, Velliangiri Foothills, Ishana Vihar Post, Coimbatore – 641114
forestflower@ishafoundation.org

2 | ISHA FOREST FLOWER February 2016

CONTENTS
THE OTHER SIDE OF THE MIRROR MAHABHARAT

New Year Discourse by Sadhguru 07 The Truth about Kalki 10

IN CONVERSATION WITH THE MYSTIC
Where Does Consciousness Come From? 04
Deepak Chopra in Conversation with Sadhguru - Part 2

LEAD ARTICLE
The Other Side of the Mirror 07
New Year Discourse by Sadhguru

MAHABHARAT
10
Part 15: The Truth about Kalki

ISHA HATHA YOGA

13
Part 25: Beyond Comfort

MUSINGS
Ishtadevata 15
Reality or Hallucination?

A Yogi’s Legacy
16
Sadhguru on the Transformative Impact of Mahasamadhi

NEWS & EVENTS

Sadhguru in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka
17
Recent Events in Pictures

Isha Vidhya
A Success in Andhra Pradesh 18

UPCOMING PROGRAMS & EVENTS

Yaksha & Mahashivaratri 2016 19
Isha Yoga – Program Highlights 20

ISHA RECIPE
This Month: Bottle Gourd Muthiya 21

ZEN SPEAKS
23
The Buddha Is in the Home
February 2016 ISHA FOREST FLOWER | 3
Where Does Consciousness Come From?
Deepak Chopra in Conversation with Sadhguru – Part 2
Indian American author, public speaker, and physician Deepak Chopra is undoubtedly one
of the best-known figures in the holistic health sector. He met with Sadhguru on 18 October
2015 for a conversation on “Ancient Wisdom in Modern Times.” The talk was moderated by
Chandrika Tandon, a Grammy-nominated singer, former partner at McKinsey & Company,
and founding chair of financial advisory firm Tandon Capital Associates. Here is the second
excerpt of this exceptionally profound encounter.
Chandrika Tandon: Dr. Chopra, could you talk to read English literature just for fun because I like
us about what stops people from experiencing a the language, otherwise the most profound stuff
state of yoga? that I read is Asterix.

Deepak Chopra: For some of us who were
educated in a scientific world view or in a world
view that emphasizes recycled information,
it is difficult to come to an experience of
being because we identify with our perceptual
experience. We identify with our intellect, our
mind, and our ego, so it always seems a struggle,
until one day, you stop struggling and you are
there. As Sadhguru said, he never identified
with anything. Once you identify with thought or
perception, with sensation or emotion, then you
are in time. Thought is in time but being is not
in time.
Chandrika Tandon: Sadhguru, your thoughts?
Sadhguru: I am completely spiritually uneducated.
I have to admit that I have read neither the Gita
nor the Vedas nor the Upanishads nor even the
Yoga Sutras. I have never studied anything. I
Why I am saying this is, modern science is trying
to mathematically deduce reality – everything
has to fit into math. A scientist will deduct
everything and come to the conclusion that
the entire universe is one, but that is not in his
experience. A religious person will say that God
is everywhere and everything is one, but he only
believes – that is not yet in his experience. One
makes deductions, another is rooted in belief. A
yogi is a hard nut who does not want to deduce
or believe anything. Unless it becomes real
within him, it is not a reality for him. Because
of this approach, I never found the need to read
anything spiritual. If I read something, it may be
a news magazine, literature, or something else,
but never anything spiritual, because I do not
wanted to clutter my own clarity with anything
from outside. The only thing I know is, I know
this piece of life [referring to himself] from its
origin to its ultimate. And if you know one piece

4 | ISHA FOREST FLOWER February 2016

of life absolutely, you seem to know everything
else by inference.
There is a certain theory prevalent today, which
is known as Constructal Theory. It implies that
whether it is an amoeba or a human being, the
atomic or the cosmic, the fundamental design
is the same. It is just the sophistication and the
complexity that is multiplied. If the fundamental
design is the same, if you want to know the
entire universe, you just have to know yourself,
and this is the only thing that is always available
and accessible to you. Right now, you believe
that you can see me sitting here, but that is
not the fact of the matter. Light is falling upon
me, reflecting, going through your lenses, and
becoming an inverted image in the retina – you
know the entire story.
If you see me, you see me only within you.
If you hear me, you hear me only within you.
Light and darkness, pain and pleasure, joy and
misery, agony and ecstasy happen only within
you. If someone touches your hand, you think
you are experiencing their hand, but you are
only experiencing the sensations in your own
hand. In other words, your entire experience
is happening within you. The very seat of
experience is within you. You must be able to
determine what is happening within you at
least – it must happen the way you want it. If it
does, your ability to create what you want in the
world is also tremendously enhanced. This is not
because you know the world, but because you
know yourself. This is why realization used to be
held as the highest goal in this culture. You must
understand it is realization – not an achievement
or an attainment. Realization means it was
always there, but you were stupid enough not to
see it, until suddenly one day you saw it.
It seems when Arjuna asked, “Where is this
intangible, unperceivable truth that you’re talking
about?” Krishna laughed and said, “It’s at the tip
of your nose.” Now there are many schools of
yoga where people intensely focus on the tips
of their noses and are getting headaches. “The
February 2016
tip of your nose” is being used as a metaphor to
indicate it is the most obvious thing. If you pay
attention to the nature of your existence – not to
your thoughts, emotions, or arrangements of life
around you – it is the most obvious thing.
Chandrika Tandon: Dr. Chopra, can you give your
views on this?
Deepak Chopra: Sadhguru is one of the few lucky
ones. I have known two other people who said
like him, “Thank God I never read anything.” One
was Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. He always used to
say, “Thank God I never read anything, because
it would have cluttered my mind.” And the other
was Krishnamurthy, who would say that the
more you read, the more you clutter your mind.
He also said, “I’ve never read anything.” That is
unusual. Such people have fallen into existence
or awareness. I struggled.
I read all the scientific literature, medical
literature, psychology, Jungian psychology,
every single translation of the Bhagavad Gita, the
Rig Veda, the Yoga Vashistha, Kashmir Shaivism,
Vedanta – all of that. They said exactly what
Sadhguru is saying. But for me, as a person who
was trained to look at things scientifically, it was
both a struggle and a need, because reality is not
a map and yet, science gives us maps. The Yoga
Vashishta gives us a map, Patanjali gives us a
map, the Bhagavad Gita gives us a map. Some of
us need maps.
At our center, we are teaching people to sit
in reflection, contemplative self-enquiry,
transcendence, or awareness. We have been
doing it now for 25 years, but in the last 5 to 10
years, we have been able to look at the brain,
gene expression, cell markers of aging, telomere
length, inflammatory markers – in other words,
everything that is happening in the body at
a biological cell level. 23,000 human genes,
3.3 million bacterial genes – actually, your body
is more bacteria than it is human cells – it is a
microbiome. We are looking at those genes, we
are looking at the epigenome, which is the shell
ISHA FOREST FLOWER | 5
of proteins outside the genome, and how these
work together, and what we find is remarkable.
In the beginning, no one would believe us, but
now we have collaborations with Harvard,
UCSF, UCSD, Duke University, and Mount Sinai
School of Medicine. Through digital technology,
we can look at a blood sample and tell you the
gene expression, if you occasionally experience
samadhi or not, if your mind is quiet or not, if you
fall into a place like where Sadhguru is.
Sadhguru: Even whether our parents experienced
this or not.
Deepak Chopra: Parents too. In fact, the epigenetic
shows that your experiences are not in your brain
or body – your experiences are in a non-local
consciousness which is not in space–time. One
of our collaborators in Mount Sinai, Eric Schadt,
does genomic expression, RNA transcription, and
what is called the transcriptome. He can actually
show you the genetic signature of people who
are experiencing samadhi.
This is the first window that is opening into what
we call sanskaras or vasanas. For example, you
have two identical twins – they have exactly
the same genome, but they are not the same
people – they have different personalities.
Where is the seat of this personality – where
does it come from? This is why science opens
the window to what people actually already
knew in our tradition.
Sadhguru: Science has evolved because of a
series of realizations, which have happened in
small spurts. Without grasping the entirety of
it, realization has come in bits and pieces. We
say a particular scientist discovered something,
but actually they only observed or realized some
aspect of the way it works. Knowing the physical
dimension of how things function allows you to
do many things in the physical world, which you
see in the form of technology today.
Deepak Chopra: Science has brought us now to
6 | ISHA FOREST FLOWER
what we call the door of the sub-empirical.
The sub-empirical is less than 0.01 percent
of the un-manifest, which is scientifically
unknowable – because how do you measure
something that is totally un-manifest? It does
not belong to space–time.
There are two prominent open questions in science
today. Number one is, “What is the universe made
of?” The answer is we do not know because 96%
of the universe is invisible. This is what they
call dark energy and dark matter. Those are just
words – they do not know exactly what it is. One is
expanding the universe – the other is contracting
the universe. Only 4% of the universe is atomic.
Of that 4%, 99.99% is invisible interstellar dust,
which has not become stars and galaxies. The
visible universe – all the galaxies, the billions of
stars, the trillions of planets – is only 0.01%. Now
that 0.01% is made of particles, but when these
particles are not interacting with other particles,
they disappear – they become waves. So what
is the universe made of? Nothing – and this is a
scientific fact.
The second open question is, where does
consciousness come from? Scientists are
struggling with this because they think
consciousness is a production of your brain, just
like bile is a production of your gallbladder, or acid
is a production of your stomach. This is called
the “hard problem of consciousness.” When you
look at something, what comes to your eyes are
colorless photons, what goes to your brain is
an electrical current, and what happens in your
brain is chemistry. You are not experiencing this
as chemistry or electrical currents though, but
as a three-dimensional reality in space–time.
No one knows how that happens – they keep
struggling and struggling. If I ask you to imagine
a beautiful sunset on the ocean, there is no
picture in your brain. The assumption that the
brain produces consciousness is just an idea –
no one has ever proven that. Consciousness is
not in the brain. The brain, the body, the mind,
and the whole universe are in consciousness.
You cannot get at it through a system of thought.
February 2016
 LEAD ARTICLE

The Other Side of

the Mirror
Sadhguru on a Deeper Level of
Pleasantness

Time as an experience is relevant to all of us self. You can contemplate your thoughts and
because we are mortal. Everything that you think emotions, but you cannot contemplate the self.
you are in terms of body, mind, and emotions, is Your existence cannot be contemplated – it can
a product of memory. Every level of memory – only be experienced. The mind is reflecting the
evolutionary, genetic, conscious, sub-conscious, world around you, but there is no experience of
unconscious – is calibrated in terms of time. you as a life. But the most important thing in this
In some sense, the solar system has its own existence right now for you is you are here.
memory which in turn reflects in every life, every
animate and inanimate form in this system – When there is no experience of the self, when you
everything is shaped by the system as a whole. have not touched life on a deeper level, there is
no question of experiencing the source of the
If you are totally absorbed in your physiological self. Most human beings only experience the
or psychological processes, you are a product kaleidoscope that is happening on the mirror of
of time. Being a product of time means being the mind. They keep digging into their memory
repetitive – your original nature will never find either to make themselves happy or make
expression. This is the reason why since the themselves unhappy. Whether it is joy or misery,
time of Adiyogi, we have been talking about the source is what is happening in one’s mind.
consciousness, because consciousness means
transcendence of cycles of time. You may be
aware of the world outside, but you are not
conscious that you as a life are here. You
You see the world because it is reflected
experience the world and its people, but you have
in your mind. But the mind never reflects
no experience of the self.
the self.

Your mind and your body are a product of the

world and its people. Your original nature is not
in your experience because it is on the other side
of the mind. In a way, your mind is like a mirror.
It may be a distorted one, but still a mirror. You
see the world because it is reflected in your
mind. But the mind never reflects the self. I am
not talking about your physical or psychological
February 2016
What is happening on the mirror of the mind keeps
you engaged for a lifetime and more – the same
thoughts, the same emotions go on endlessly.
Today is a reminder that you have an expiry
date. Another moment, another day, another
year should not pass without you knowing life.
You will know life not with food, drink, love, or
ISHA FOREST FLOWER | 7
pleasure. The only way to know life is if you get
to the other side of the mirror. On this side of the
mirror, you can only see drama – you cannot see
life in its essence.
There are many ways to approach this. One
simple thing you can do is the Isha Kriya. When
you say, “I am not the body. I am not the mind,”
it means “I am not a product of memory. I am
not an accumulation. I must be something
more than that.” Your aliveness comes from the
fundamental source that is on the other side of
your mental mirror.
I want you to make a sustained effort. Wherever
you are right now, close your eyes and check –
are you here? Thoughts and emotions are there,
the body is there, but are you really here? To
experience that, you can employ a few simple
methods. The reason why for ages, anyone who
wants to be spiritual foregoes food for periods
of time is not to torment oneself. When you are
really hungry and you simply sit, you will see
there is a clear distinction between you and your
body. Then when you eat the first morsel of food,
there is a feeling of pleasantness spreading
through the body. Or when you are really thirsty
and you drink a glass of water, the entire being
feels pleasant.
Just stay with that pleasantness. It is not about
the stomach being full or the thirst being gone.
It is about the pleasantness of experience that
is caused from within. The mind chooses the
experience, but it cannot cause the experience.
Something within, what you call the self or the
life within you, causes the experience.
There are two aspects in this context – sensation
and experience. Sensual pleasantness is not
the real thing because the senses do not create
the experience. Let’s say you drink a glass of
water. The thirst is being quenched, coolness is
spreading in your body, but it is not about that.
Enjoy the sensation, but the important thing is
the pleasantness that occurs on a deeper level.
8 | ISHA FOREST FLOWER
Choose something that causes pleasantness
within you – whether it is the breeze, the breath,
water, food, or anything for that matter. Try to
stay with this experience of pleasantness, if only
for a few seconds to begin with, without thoughts
and emotions. Slowly, you will shift to the other
side of the mirror.
When time is rolling, you are a complete product of
memory and time. During sandhyas or transition
periods, there is a certain break, a certain
space, there is a little room to go beyond that.
The sandhya kalas, four times a day, are such
opportunities. For your own system, the most
important transition periods are the moment you
fall asleep and the moment you wake up. In this
transition, there is a little gap. We want to make
use of this gap.
There is no difference between life and the
source of life. Life is the source of life. There
is no place in the universe where creation
and the Creator exist separately. A separation
between life and God only happens in the
human mind.
As you come awake, a certain pleasantness
spreads through the body. If you remain with
this pleasantness at that moment, the entire day,
your mind will dip into pleasantness. If your mind
does pleasant things to you, you will do pleasant
things to the world around you. Similarly, when
you are about to fall asleep, pleasantness spreads
through the body. It takes a little effort, but if you
notice this pleasantness, your sleep will be of a
completely different quality, dreamless, because
you will be on the other side of the mirror.
Most people only know sensual pleasantness.
They are not conscious of the pleasantness
of something much deeper happening within
themselves. The fundamental idea of doing
closed-eye processes, any kind of meditation, is
to lower the input for the mirror. If there is no
input for longer periods of time, the mind will not
February 2016
reflect anything. Then it will be easier to get to
the other side.
There is no place in the universe where
creation and the Creator exist separately.
A separation between life and God only
happens in the human mind.
What you experience now is just a reflection of the
mind. Reality is on the other side. The other side
is not a product of time and space. Everything is
here and now. The entire cosmos is right here.
It is a simple process, but because you are so
busy with your own psychological drama, life is
completely missed. Because it is missed, life is
punishing people with repetitive cycles.
Once you are here, the most important thing is to
have a powerful experience of life. Right now, you
know everything except life because you are only
looking at the mirror of the mind as it reflects the
world, not at the basis of all experience within
you. With every inhalation, every exhalation, with
every step you take, when you sit down or stand
up, when you eat or drink – with everything, there
is an opportunity to watch a certain pleasantness
spread in the system. Not on the sensory level –
a much deeper experience.
Every misery that you go through is your own
making. The life within knows no such thing as
unpleasantness. Unpleasantness can be of the
sensory body, or, most often, it is of the mind.
Once you fall on the other side of the mirror,
whatever happens are just surface waves here
and there. Once you know this experientially,
you will become a devotee of life. That is what is
needed in the world today. Instead of becoming
devotees of God who are willing to take the lives
of others, people should become devoted to life,
which anyway embodies the source of creation.
If you pay attention, somewhere behind this
huge, colorful statement that the mind is making,
life is constantly making its own statement. You
need to get in touch with that. To know this
aliveness is the most important dimension. If
you experientially know that you are here right
now, if you capture one moment, you capture
eternity. If you capture one moment, you capture
the entire cosmos.

Most people are unconscious of this experience

because their psychological drama, their
emotions and thoughts, override it completely.
The powerful processes we teach are essentially
devices to get to the other side of the mental
mirror and have a taste of life – life that is not a
product of memory, not a product of time, not an
accumulation – life that is the basis of life. There
is no difference between life and the source of
life. Life is the source of life. There is no place
in the universe where creation and the Creator
exist separately. A separation between life and
God only happens in the human mind.

This article appeared on Sadhguru Spot of 6 January 2016.

February 2016 ISHA FOREST FLOWER | 9

 MAHABHARAT
SERIES
PART 15
Mahabharat
The Truth about Kalki
Participant: Namaskaram, Sadhguru. I am a little
confused about the theory of yugas. The Puranas
say that in the Kali Yuga, Kalki, the final avatar of
Vishnu, will appear. Can you elaborate on this?
Sadhguru: Kali Yuga means “age of darkness.” As
we already said, it takes the planet 25,920 years to
make a full cycle through the zodiac. If you divide
this cycle in two halves, there are two times four
yugas, so totally eight yugas. Only the Kali Yugas
and the Sat Yugas are paired together – there are
two Sat Yugas and two Kali Yugas in succession.
But the other two yugas – the Dwapara Yuga and
Treta Yuga – are each separated by Kali Yugas
and Sat Yugas respectively.
Kali Yuga – Age of Darkness
What distinguishes Kali Yuga is that during this
yuga, the distance between the solar system
and the “Super Sun” that it is rotating around
is greatest. The greater the distance becomes,
the lesser the intelligence of the beings on this
planet. Because this distance is greatest, the
human intellect is at its lowest in Kali Yuga. In
the following yuga, as the solar system is moving
closer to the “Super Sun,” human intelligence
will begin to blossom. They go to the extent of
saying that human ability to understand and use
the electrical and magnetic forces in the human
system increases as the planet gets closer and
decreases as it moves further away.
Your intelligence essentially depends on how
your neurons crackle in the brain. If you look at a
simulated image of how the brain works, you will
10 | ISHA FOREST FLOWER
see it is actually crackling with electricity. How
much electrical charge it can carry determines
how well and how clearly you can think. Looking
at the physical laws that rule the solar system,
physicists recently found that there is no room
for further development of the human brain. The
yogic sciences have been saying this for a long
time. This is so because if you increase the size
of the neurons, the brain would become more
capable, but it would take too much electricity.
Right now, as you sit here, 20% of your energy
is spent in the brain, which means it is the most
energy-consuming part of the body. Suppose
your brain became bigger, you would need more
energy than you would be able to supply. On
the other hand, if you increase the number of
neurons, you could still do better with the same
amount of power. But if you increase the number
of neurons, the way they are packed right now,
you will lose in clarity of signal. This is the case
with many hyperactive children – the number of
neurons in their brain is higher than normal. They
are brilliant but scattered. They cannot think
straight. Nothing comes out of it because there
is no clarity.
Neither increasing the size of the brain nor the
number of neurons would work. They say that
according to the physical laws, it is not possible
for the human brain to evolve further, but we can
learn to use it better. Right now, human beings
are using it in a very mediocre way. If you use it in
a more sophisticated way, you can increase your
brain power many times over.
February 2016
The yogic sciences have said a long time ago that
human intelligence and the human body cannot
be developed further because the physical laws
have reached their limits. In relation to the way
the earth rotates around the sun and the way the
moon cycles around the earth, the human body
has reached full potential. It cannot go further, but
at the same time yogic sciences once again say
that your ability to use the brain can be enhanced
by doing certain things. One of the things that we
spoke about just now is brahmacharya. You can
generate that kind of energy in your system that
if you had 10 or 25 brains, it could still power all
of them. By generating the necessary energy, by
raising the kundalini, by bringing your energies
to full force, you can power a thousand brains
around you if you want.
They say Kalki is supposed to come to end the
age of darkness. Actually, the nature of time is
such that no one needs to begin it, no one needs
to end it – it goes on anyway. Nothing may
happen to you in your life – still time will pass.
This is one thing you can be guaranteed. In case
you get a boon and become immortal, still you
cannot stop time from passing. Therefore, no
one needs to begin or end an age. When they
said, “Kalki will come on a white, winged horse,”
it was meant metaphorically. At the turn of yuga,
brightness will arrive and destroy the darkness.
If the hall is dark and I turn on a light, it destroys
the darkness. Foolish scholars or exploiters
have presented a metaphorical expression as
black-and-white facts. As the solar system
moves, it moves into a dark phase and as it
moves out, light arises. It will rain upon us.
Even if you don’t want it, suddenly your brain
will crackle and work better because you have
moved into a different age. As we say, “I got
a bright idea” – human beings have always
associated intelligence with light.
The scriptures say once the solar system moves
out of Kali Yuga, brightness will arise. In the
different yugas, human beings use different
dimensions of intelligence and communication.
In Sat Yuga, the mind – not the intellect – will
February 2016
be most important for communication and living.
That is, if I want to say something to you from
a distance, I do not need a microphone, nor do I
have to shout. If I think about this, you get it. In
Sat Yuga, people barely spoke because the mind
was the means of communication. Everything
that had to be done was done mentally. They
even go to the extent of saying there was no
physical conception – it happened mentally.
Treta Yoga – Visual Perception
In Treta Yuga, the focus shifted from the mind
down to the eyes. That the eyes became most
dominant was reflected in the language people
used in Treta Yuga. The basic greeting in India at
that time was “I see you.” That means “I see you
through and through.” They used their eyes in a
powerful way. This is called netra sparsha, which
means you can touch someone with your eyes.
Before I went to school, it happened to me that I
started staring at everything. In that condition, I
also went to school – I stared. Initially, I heard the
words; after some time, the words did not mean
anything to me, because I knew that I am making
up the meanings. Then even the sounds did not
mean anything to me anymore. Listening to
people never made any sense to me. I knew more
about them by just staring at them. I was staring,
not because the teachers were always pretty, but
because when I stared keenly enough, I knew
them through and through. I knew everything
about them – things about their lives that they
did not even know themselves. It became more
and more absorbing – I would stare at something
for hours on end. If I wanted to know something,
I stared at it. After some time, I realized there are
better ways to do it – if I want to know something,
I just have to close my eyes.
Dwapara Yuga – Olfactory Perception
In Dwapara Yuga, the sense of smell became
most dominant. Wherever life energies are high,
the sense of smell will become very strong and
sensitive. In the forest for example, your sense
of smell is more important than your eyes, ears,
and your brain. By sniffing you can know what is
happening with a person.
ISHA FOREST FLOWER | 11
A little while ago, we had the fortune of having
a king cobra as a guest in the ashram. It is one
of the most magnificent creatures on the planet.
It was almost 12 feet long and could stand
up six feet tall. It uses its tongue to taste you
from a distance. It knows your chemistry. It can
move so quickly and is so deadly that if it bites
you, you only have eight to ten minutes. It has
enough venom to kill an elephant, but we are
at ease with it because we know that if we do
not create the wrong chemistry in our system, it
is fine with us. All carnivorous animals, in fact
almost all wild creatures are sensitive to your
chemistry, but snakes in particular are super
sensitive. You can go in the wild and pick up a
venomous snake if you are at total ease. If your
chemistry shows a little anxiety or fear, it will go
for you because it instantly perceives what is
happening in your system.
The reason why yogis are always keeping a cobra
next to them and why Shiva has a cobra next
to him is, among the creatures on this planet,
a cobra has a maximum amount of etheric
aura around it. That means it has a fabulous
perception. For perception, this particular animal
is helpful, and its perception is something that
yogis bow down to. Its perception is better
than that of most human beings because of the
etheric aura that it creates around itself. Naga
tribes, for example, have the necessary sadhana
to generate a certain amount of etheric aura,
so that they can perceive what others cannot
perceive. Only what you perceive you know – the
12 | ISHA FOREST FLOWER
rest is all nonsense. It may be said by me, it may
be said by a god, it may be written in a scripture,
but it is all nonsense unless you know it from
your own perception.
Kali Yuga – Verbal Expression
Moving on from the mental, visual, and olfactory
dimensions of perception – in Kali Yuga, human
beings become totally verbal. Their mouth
becomes the biggest thing. When the solar
system is going through the yugas, if you are in
tune with it, you are also going with these yugas.
If you are above it, you can stay wherever you
want. If you are stuck in your own things, the
planet may be in Sat Yuga, but you may be in
your Kali Yuga. That means every individual is
still free to either transcend the yuga that he or
she is in, or be trampled by the yuga, or ride the
yuga as it is. All the three possibilities are there.
Kalki – Light and Intelligence
They say at the end of Kali Yuga, Kalki is supposed
to come down on a white horse with wings and
dispel darkness. To destroy darkness, no one
needs to fly down on a horse. If you just turn on
a small light, darkness is destroyed. Darkness is
the most fragile thing, but still people cannot get
rid of it because they employ wrong methods. A
light being on a flying horse coming down to take
darkness away is a metaphor. The light or the
intelligence need not necessarily come from
you – it arises out of a heavenly possibility.
Because the solar system is moving out of the
phase of Kali Yuga, as a celestial gift, your
intelligence will turn bright. There are certain
constellations that are seen as a flying horse.
That is why they said that Kalki will descend
upon you on a flying horse and destroy your
darkness if you have allowed it to live within you.
February 2016

A Different Kind of Toughness
One of the fundamentals of Hatha Yoga is to
change the definition of what is tough. Generally,
people’s understanding of strength or toughness
is only in terms of resistance, assuming that if
you offer strong resistance, you must be tough.
By contrast, in yoga, toughness means to be
in a state of acceptance, to be able to absorb
everything without reacting to anything. Hatha
Yoga builds a different dimension of toughness –
not with rigidity and resistance, but with flexibility
and acceptance. Within the fundamental
principles of yama and niyama, one important
aspect is Ishwara pranidhyana, which means to
constantly acknowledge an intelligence beyond
yourself. It means to know where your will ends
and where another dimension, which nurtures
us, which is the basis of our existence, begins.
Yoga is about seamlessly playing between these
two – individual will and intelligence, and the
universality of our existence.
For many of you, your body, mind, and emotions
are making up some kind of drama all the time.
A lot of drama happens within you. Yoga is a
dimension where even the simplest physical
postures can lead to a profound understanding
of how to take charge of this drama. This
drama does not only include your thoughts and
emotions but also your perception. The way the
world is playing within you, how you see, hear,
taste, or smell – all this is your drama. Another
creature would not experience it the same way.
This drama has chemical and electrical aspects
to it. The perceptional drama is not necessarily
February 2016
PART 25
Beyond Comfort
in line with reality. If your chemistry plays up
in a certain way, everything looks different.
Some people are going through psychological
issues where the entire reality changes in their
experience, and doctors are trying to fix it with
some kinds of chemicals. Or in certain parts
of the world, some may try to induce spiritual
experience through chemical substances.
This drama includes your psychological scape,
your perception, and your experience. What we
are trying to do is to get a hold on this drama,
to understand the source of this drama, to be
able to direct the drama as you want, not only
in terms of thoughts and emotions but in term
of your very perception. Through the yogic
process, you can take charge of how you see
things and how deeply you see things, and how
profoundly or how profanely you experience
life. That will not come with the surface activity
of twisting and turning your body. It needs
enormous involvement.
Total Involvement
The only reason why the entire humanity is
not enlightened is lack of involvement. Lack of
involvement comes from the fear of suffering.
You involve yourself in what you like or know,
or what you consider as pleasant. You do
not involve yourself in what you do not like or
know, or what you consider as unpleasant.
This discriminatory process creates lack of
involvement. Early morning yoga may not be
pleasant, but to be absolutely involved without
discriminating between what you like and what
you dislike is the answer. A neem ball may not be
ISHA FOREST FLOWER | 13
something that you like, but to be involved with
it, to integrate it within yourself, is fundamental
to creating a sense of involvement. As your
involvement becomes profound, your experience
also becomes profound.
The doors of existence, of which there are many
layers, have to open one by one if you show
the necessary involvement. There are many
compulsions and limitations you have to face
to make things happen in the world. All these
things will have an impact on you – unless you
know how to involve yourself in just everything,
without fear of failure. Establish involvement
without discrimination, which means simply
doing whatever is needed, without doing more of
what you like and less of what you do not like.
Excerpted from a talk by Sadhguru at the Isha Hatha Yoga School.
For dates and details of Hatha Yoga programs, visit www.ishahathayoga.com.
14 | ISHA FOREST FLOWER
This is about bringing a sense of vairagya into
your life. The entire Indian culture has grown
from vairagya, though this is changing rapidly
today. Raga means “color,” vai means to be
beyond that, so vairagya means “beyond color”–
in other words, to become transparent. If the
background behind you is blue, you become
blue; if the background is red, you become red.
If you are transparent, you can take on and
experience every possible color in the universe
without a trace of that color being left in you. You
are absolutely involved in the process of life but
remain untouched by it. Or in other words, life
does not leave a scratch upon you. Unless you
have this freedom, you will not be able to deepen
your experience of life.
February 2016
Ishtadevata
Reality or Hallucination?
Questioner: Namaskar My Ishtadevata is Lord
Hanuman. Can one truly experience the presence
of one’s Ishtadevata? If so, how do we differentiate
between hallucination and true experience?
Sadhguru: First of all, Ishtadevata is a god
of your choice. That means you created the
god – either just emotionally, or as an actual
energy form with which can transact in some
way, but it is not a god who landed somewhere
from heaven. It is something that you created.
It is like a tool. Tools can do things that you
yourself cannot do. Human beings have become
a dominant force on this planet only because of
our ability to use tools.
You can speak to me from a distance because
of the microphone, but the microphone only
enhances your voice. A tool is an enhancement
of our existing abilities. We created energy
forms with which we can have a very profound
relationship. But not all deities are energy
forms. Many of them are purely based on
emotion. A bhakta or devotee does not care
whether his object of devotion exists or not. All
he knows is the strength of his emotions. As
you can use the strength of your intellect, you
can also use the strength of your emotions to
do wonderful things.
If you become a devotee, it does not matter
whether you are devoted to one god or another,
to a monkey or a buffalo, as long as you are
devoted. Because you are devoted, you will
be transformed – not by the god, but by your
devotion. If you fall in love with someone, the
person you fall in love with may be an idiot, but
because you are in love, something about you
becomes beautiful. The advantage of falling in
love with a god is he will not disappoint you.
Human beings invariably disappoint you – not
because something is wrong with them, simply
February 2016
MUSINGS
because your expectations are unrealistic – it is
impossible to live by them. But you want others
to fulfill these expectations because you think
they are superhuman. It is a nice idea, but you
know, they are only human.
Hanuman, however, is a superman. He has
the tail and facial features of a monkey – the
rest is a super-superman. If you have been
to a consecrated deity of Hanuman and have
developed a certain relationship, there may
be an element of reality to it. Otherwise, it is
just your emotion. It does not matter if it is
hallucination or reality. Anything that happens
in your mind is hallucination.
Your thoughts and emotions are your
psychological drama. You have the choice to use
it to enhance your life or to defeat yourself. You
can sit here and think what you want. It need not
have anything to do with reality. The question
is, are your hallucinations working towards
your wellbeing and growth, or are they working
against you? Do not worry whether something is
reality or hallucination.
I have spoken about this before – a few years
ago, when I walked into the Isha Home School,
an eight-year-old boy came up to me and
asked, “Sadhguru, is life a dream or is it true?”
I said, “See, life is a dream, but the dream is
true.” The dexterity of living is in making your
dream work for you, not against you. Please
make Hanuman work for you, not against you.
Hanuman represents immense strength and
devotion. Let that become a part of your life. Life
will work wonderfully well. Do not split hairs by
asking if it is real or not. Your thoughts come
and go – they do not exist by themselves, but
you can make them work for you. You can turn
this psychological drama into a devil or into a
divine form. Please turn it into a divine force –
then your very mind will become the source of
the Divine.
ISHA FOREST FLOWER | 15
A Yogi’s Legacy
Sadhguru on the Transformative Impact of Mahasamadhi
Questioner: Sadhguru, from what I understood,
you said that when yogis attain mukti, the being
completely dissolves. On the other hand, people
say that certain yogis are still there in their
samadhi spots, or that their power is still there.
How is that?
Sadhguru: When a being leaves the body and
completely dissolves, still he can leave a powerful
field of energy around him. There are many
places like that in India. Kedarnath is one such
powerful place. If you are open to experience it,
Kedar can shake you from the very root of your
spine. Similarly, Velliangiri – the Seventh Hill is
so powerful because some yogis left their bodies
and certain kinds of energies there. This does
not mean they are still around. It is just that
they leave in such a way that it transforms the
atmosphere around and the whole area. Usually,
they will choose a substance that can hold
the energy for a long period of time. Naturally
available options are outcrops of rock. Yogis
used them to invest their energy in them so that
people can experience it. There are incredibly
powerful samadhis in South India.
You may have heard of Ghati Subramanya1,
the temple somewhere between Bangalore
and Mangalore, from which you can climb the
mountain of Kumara Parvat. Kumara Parvat is
the place where Subramanya, or Murugan, or
Kartikeya as they call him in Tamil Nadu, attained
samadhi. After fighting bloody battles, he came
to Ghati Subramanya, and as a symbolic gesture
for the end of violence, he washed the blood off
his sword. Then he went up Kumara Parvat and
left his body standing. Being the son of Shiva,
in Karnataka, he is known as Kumara, which
means son.
Subramanya was six-faced – that is why they
also call him Arumugam, which means “six faces”
16 | ISHA FOREST FLOWER
in Tamil. He had six faces because of a certain
experiment. There have been many experiments
where two yogis have shared the same body.
In the case of Subramanya, it was such that
Parvati had six children with six different kinds
of attributes. Then she thought how wonderful
it would be if all these six qualities were in one
person, and she merged all six into one body.
These were six yogis living in one body – that is
why he is known as Arumugam or six-faced.
Generally, when a yogi wants to leave his body,
he will do it either sitting down or sometimes
lying down, according to his convenience.
Gautama Buddha left lying down on the side,
which is a little unusual too. But Kumara left his
body standing, which is very unusual. This place
is incredibly powerful. We once trekked there and
stayed at the base camp to go up the peak the next
morning. They set up a tent for me, but my body
just would not sit down. If I tried to sit down, my
body would stand up again, dismantling the tent.
There was no way to sit down – I had to stand
the whole night. This is because Subramanya
left his body standing.
Even today, if you go up the mountain and dig
anywhere, you will find small, six-faced pebbles.
You must see it to believe it. These six-faced
stones, which look like machine-cut, are called
Shanmukha Lingas. These tiny pebbles are so
powerful that someone who is sensitive to them
holds one of them in their hands, will experience
an explosion of energy. His energies have been
such that for these hundreds of years, even the
stones have transformed themselves into six
faces. That is the kind of energy he left.
There are many places like that. This is a
reality that one must experience – believing is
not enough.
1
Ancient Hindu temple in Bangalore District
February 2016
Sadhguru in Andhra Pradesh
and Karnataka
Recent Events in Pictures
A wonderful Evening with the Mystic! Over 4500
people attended the satsang with Sadhguru at the
JRC Convention Hall, Hyderabad, on 2 Jan 2016.
Sadhguru with Union Minister for Urban
Development Shri Venkaiah Naidu at the “Nellore
Next” event, Nellore, on 3 January 2016. Over 1000
people, including State Ministers and prominent
citizens of the town, attended the event.
Sadhguru’s first satsang in Visakhapatnam
on 5 January 2016 received an overwhelming
response, with the venue – Port Stadium –
completely packed. Over 5000 people attended.
February 2016
NEWS AND EVENTS
Sadhguru at the Srikalahasti temple in Chittoor
district. The temple is one of the pancha bhuta
sthalas. It represents the element of vayu or wind.
An Evening with Sadhguru at the Sree
Vidyanikethan Engineering College, Tirupati, on
4 January 2016, following an invitation by film
actor, director, and producer Mohan Babu.
Sadhguru giving the valedictory address at the
21st INCOFYRA – International Conference on
Frontiers in Yoga Research and Its Applications,
Bangalore, on 7 January 2016.
ISHA FOREST FLOWER | 17

Isha Vidhya
A Success in Andhra Pradesh
In order to counteract the deteriorating
education standards in rural schools, the Chief
Minister of Andhra Pradesh launched Isha
Vidhya’s Government School Adoption Program
(GSAP) in Kuppam district in 2015. Isha Vidhya,
an Isha Education initiative, is committed to
raise the level of education and literacy in rural
areas and help disadvantaged children realize
their full potential.
After examining the advantages of the Isha
Vidhya project, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu
Naidu directed the District Collector to tie up
with Isha Education, entrusting Isha with 356
primary schools, 30 upper schools and 74
high schools, which cover 38,356 students in
total. As per the agreement, Isha Vidhya has
A version of this article appeared in The Hans India on 14 December 2015.
18 | ISHA FOREST FLOWER
taken over administration of all government
schools in Kuppam, Santhipuram, Gudipalli
and Ramakuppam districts to carry out critical
interventions for the students.
During his recent visit to Kuppam, The Chief
Minister made surprise visits to the government
schools and decided to extend the agreement
with Isha Foundation for another two years. The
District Project Officer remarked that the quality
of education has been significantly enhanced in
the schools. She further stated that remarkable
progress has been witnessed among the
students in English, Mathematics, and Telugu
classes.
Magic English was launched to enhance the
skills in learning, speaking, and reading, which
has been imparted to over 10,000 students by
200 teachers. Sessions on how to create a joyful
learning atmosphere have also been conducted
for teachers as a part of the project.
February 2016
February 2016 ISHA FOREST FLOWER | 19
 Date Program Place Contact

Isha Yoga Center,

12–15 Feb Bhava Spandana 83000 93555 / 0422-2515300
Velliangiri Foothills,
2016 (Gents) iycprograms@ishayoga.org
Coimbatore – India

Isha Yoga Center,

16–19 Feb Bhava Spandana 83000 93555 / 0422-2515300
Velliangiri Foothills,
2016 (Ladies) iycprograms@ishayoga.org
Coimbatore – India

Isha Yoga Center,

16–20 Feb Diabetes Management 0422-2515464 / 94890 45084
Velliangiri Foothills,
2016 Program isharejuvenation@ishafoundation.org
Coimbatore – India

Isha Yoga Center,

20–23 Feb 83000 93555 / 0422-2515300
Shoonya Intensive Velliangiri Foothills,
2016 iycprograms@ishayoga.org
Coimbatore – India

Samyama Isha Yoga Center,

25 Feb – 0422-2515300
Conducted by Velliangiri Foothills,
3 Mar 2016 samyama@ishayoga.org
Sadhguru Coimbatore – India

Yaksha – A Isha Yoga Center,

4–6 Mar
Celebration of Culture Velliangiri Foothills, 0422-2515300
2016
and Music Coimbatore – India

Isha Yoga Center,

Mahashivaratri 0422-2515300
7 Mar 2016 Velliangiri Foothills,
with Sadhguru mahashivarathri@ishafoundation.org
Coimbatore – India

Current at the time of print, however subject to change. For full program schedules and updates,
please visit our website: www.ishafoundation.org.

Sadhana
Prepare Yourself for Grace
For the upcoming Mahashivaratri, Sadhguru has
given a special sadhana to prepare oneself for
this night of tremendous spiritual possibilities.
The sadhana can be done by anyone age eight or
older for a period of 40, 21, 14, 7, or 3 consecutive
days leading up to Mahashivaratri. It includes
chants, Shiva Namaskar, and the observance
of certain guidelines. The culmination is on
Mahashivaratri – optionally at the Isha Yoga
Center, in your local center, or at home.

For more details, guidelines, and to learn Shiva Namaskar as well as the chants, please visit the Isha
Blog – isha.sadhguru.org/MSRsadhana

20 | ISHA FOREST FLOWER February 2016

 ISHA RECIPE

BOTTLE GOURD MUTHIYA

(Steamed Dumplings)

little curd and bottle gourd juice (from step 1)

INGREDIENTS
and knead into a soft dough. Let the dough sit
for about 10 minutes. (The dough should not be
1 Bottle gourd, large-sized, washed, peeled, cut
too thin. It should be of medium consistency –
lengthwise, grated
should not drip from a spoon very easily. If the
1½ Cups Coarse wheat flour (atta)
dough becomes sticky, add more gram flour to
2 Tbsps. Gram flour
make it soft.)
2 Tsps. Sugar
3. Shape the dough into thick, long, cylindrical
½ Tsp. Turmeric powder
pieces resembling bananas. Apply a bit of oil
4-5 sprigs Coriander leaves, fresh, finely
on your hands beforehand, to make the shaping
chopped
easier.
Coconut, grated, as desired
4. Put in a steamer for about 20 minutes. Insert
A generous pinch of Baking soda
a knife or toothpick to check if they are ready. If
Curd as required
ready, the toothpick / knife will come out clean.
Salt to taste
Remove from heat and allow to cool. Slice into
roundels.
For the seasoning:
5. For the seasoning, heat 2 tbsps. of oil in a pan
5 Tbsps. Oil
and add the mustard seeds. When they splutter,
1 Tsp. Mustard seeds
add the curry leaves. Add the steamed roundels
10-12 Curry leaves
and sauté until crispy.
1 Tbsp. White sesame seeds (optional)
6. Add the sesame seeds and sauté until golden
and crisp.
METHOD 7. Serve hot, garnished with fresh coriander and
grated coconut.
1. Squeeze the grated bottle gourd and reserve
the juices. For better results, salt the grated TIPS
bottle gourd and keep aside for 15-20 minutes,
then squeeze – this reduces the water and also • Bottle gourd peel can be used in chutneys, fried
seasons the vegetable. and added into stir-fry dishes or made into bhaji.
2. Add the coarse wheat flour, gram flour, sugar, • This dish is often served topped with grated
turmeric powder, salt, baking soda, half of the coconut and roasted sesame seeds, along with
coriander leaves, and 3 tbsps. of oil. Knead mint-coriander or tamarind-date chutney.
lightly to incorporate the ingredients. Add a • If desired, add red chili powder or garam masala
in step 2.

This recipe is from Isha’s new cookbook “A Taste of Wellbeing” that is due for release on Mahashivaratri
2016. More about the book and where to buy it in the March issue of Isha Forest Flower.

February 2016 ISHA FOREST FLOWER | 21

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