A while back you may have come across the Youth & Truth campaign by Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev. He visited academic institutions across the country for an open discussion and debate with the students. Many of which have generated a lot of controversy owing to disagreements and impetuous questioning of the man by the students.
I found it all quite interesting and I am watching the videos only now – they are a couple of hours long. I find that these younger folks came up with slightly different questions than the usual ones that people ask of Sadhguru. Stuff about LGBTQ in detail, marijuana being legalized, the illuminati ruling the world and so on.
There was also something else about the events that got me thinking. At the start of each event, Sadhguru has mentioned the reason for these events, because a lot of 60 year olds often tell him, “wish we were 20 when we met you. We would have done so many things differently“.
And it struck me, I was about 20 yrs old when I met the Guru. This was about 15 years back. I had never really thought about it until now. At that time when I visited the Isha Foundation ashram, a lot of (older) people there would say that I was lucky to have met him so early on. But I didn’t pay much heed to them – older folks have a way of saying all these seemingly random things to us youngsters.
Anyway, the big deal isn’t just about meeting him, it is about finding a Guru in him. Traditionally, for us Indians, finding a Guru is considered a tremendous happening.
I at that age found a Guru in him. And I then went on to invest quite a bit of my time and effort into yoga and core life-related activities like practising silence, meditation, yoga practices and volunteering. At that time I didn’t know whether this would be valuable and whether the impact would stay with me for long-term. I was just going with the flow.
And as it happened over the next decade and half, I picked up many other activities which have helped me enhance my life, find clarity and balance. These include,
Solo travel: Nothing like getting a healthy dose of solitude and new experiences packaged together.
Blogging: I have sustained the practice of blogging regularly over 10 years. It helps me unwind and refine my thoughts. Gone are those nights where I can’t sleep due to thoughts and ideas jamming my brain. Moreover, this particular blog has helped me get in touch with other urban spiritual seekers and also explore my spiritual thoughts in a deeper way.
Entrepreneurship: A few mad years of running my own business helps me find balance and resolve in almost all situations. The ups and downs one faces (and learns from) in a startup is often not found in other more stable environs.
With all these growth activities I find myself in a good situation in life and I attribute the start of them to the Guru.
Through the Y&T campaign I got a chance to understand the significance of finding him so early on. And maybe this campaign has been a way for a lot of other 20 year olds to find him and then live their lives a whole lot differently…..
What about you? What was your most significant event when you were in your 20s? Was there any person or situation that has impacted and shaped your life in a deep way? What keeps you balanced and clear about Life?
15 years back, I was twenty too ! 😋
though I haven’t found a guru yet but I think a lot of help came to me in the form of books, places I visited, and stories that I heard form my parents.
if I have to point to one event, and your question made me think and review in this direction, I remember my parents took me Calcutta. it was part of a longer trip. there in Calcutta, we went to Ramkrishna math for the day tour. there I picked up a book. when we got back home, I resumed my school. I think I was in class 7 or 8. for days that book just sat there. then one day I start reading it.
so for me a lot of solace, strength, comfort, vision, came from or came via Swami Vivekananda, Ramkrishna and the monks of Ramkrishna math. they were my first contact.
Ohh. Which book was this?
And yes, I also visited Belur math when I was quite small, and had picked up a Vivekananda book in college days before I met SJV… But none of it clicked until this 🙂
it is a simple book of essays by various monks of Ramkrishna order. the book is titled ‘Meditations’ so these essays revolve around the art of meditation and its many facets. one speaking about the preparation, the other about the process, another about ‘after-meditation’, things like that. and its not a new publication. I mean I picked it up when I was little. so the writings are more pristine, non-commercial, basic and fundamental. ‘As it is’.
Sounds nice. more “non-commercial” 🙂
I have heard a few Ramakrishna monks… Even wrote about one them having a podcast earlier on this blog – I am overall happy with them. Good to hear for a seeker. Though not sure how much of a live path it still is… Never delved in.
When it comes to Ramkrishna, his life portrait is all there is, to know, to learn, to immerse. his life is enough. to know what is there to be known. this is such a paradox. not learning advaita, vedanta, sutras, it is known what is there to be known. that is Ramkrishna. Vivekananda , well we missed being around in his times, because there will be nothing like him again. or probably we were there. in Vivekananda I see pure intellect gone right, thank god for that, intellects going right. so pretty early I got this thing straight, the only way to connect is through books, reading them. so pretty early I got this thing straight, I should be able to read books, and then came the most important thing, right perception, so that the assimilation is easy, immersion is full. never been to belur again, but the path is alive. we’ve to illuminate the path and as it happens the path illuminates us.
Hmm I never spent much time in Belur… Let’s see next time I am in Kolkata 🙂