Focus on ultimate goal

A FUNDAMENTAL requirement for anybody who wishes to grow on the spiritual path is to create an undeviated flow of energy towards the one and only goal in life – to attain to the highest and not settle for anything less than that.

If there is a person who is capable of channelling himself without any break, he is a blessed one.

But rarely do people come like that. Most people lead lives only in jerks – few moments of running, then stopping or may be going backwards, then running and running backwards. This is how life goes waste for most people. They need somebody to keep them moving all the time. That somebody’s job is to use the carrot and stick with some equanimity, as the need arises. Sometimes, carrots don’t work, then the stick. Sometimes sticks don’t work, and then the carrot – it is like that.

Ramakrishna described the role of a guru in a very nice way. He said there are three types of gurus who are like three different classes of doctors. There is one type of medical man who, when called upon, looks at the patients, feels his pulse, then prescribes the necessary medicine and asks them to take them. If the patient declines, they just go away without troubling themselves further about the matter. In the same way, there are some religious teachers who don’t care much whether their teachings are valued, acted upon or not.

Doctors of the second type not only ask the patients to take their medicine, but they also go further. They expostulate. They leave no stone unturned to make other people walk the ways of righteousness and truth by means of gentle persuasion. The third and the highest kind of doctors would proceed to use force with the patients, in case he shows any reluctance to take the medicines. Such an advisor would go to the extent of putting his knee on the chest of the patient and forcing the medicine down his throat. Similarly, there are some gurus who would use force, if necessary, on their disciples, with a view to making them walk on the path to the ultimate.

In every aspect of life these three kinds of people exist. Why Ramakrishna considers the last one as the highest is because he takes the risk of becoming unpopular. He takes the risk of being labelled “cruel” and takes the risk of being considered as not at all spiritual. Why such teachers exist or why this is needed is because, by your own nature, you are like a frog. Whichever way he sees a mosquito, he goes in that direction. This way, you can’t reach anywhere. At the most you will fill your belly, that is all. If filling the belly is the only purpose of life, then that is okay.

Once you are on the spiritual path, once you have seen what is the goal of your life, this sniffing around should stop because there are so many things that smell good on the way. Wherever something smells good if you turn, you are not going to get anywhere. Even a man who wants to make money, a man who pursues his pleasure, even he goes with 100 per cent involvement towards what he wants.

If that is so, when you are seeking the highest, you know how you should be? It is not that if you cannot do anything else in your life, you can be spiritual, that is not so. If you can take up anything and do it in this world, then there is a possibility you may be fit for spirituality. Not otherwise.

 n Ranked among the 50 most influential people in India, Sadhguru is a yogi, mystic, visionary and a New York Times bestselling author. He was conferred the Padma Vibhushan by the Indian government in 2017, the highest annual civilian award, accorded for exceptional and distinguished service. He is also the founder of the world’s largest people’s movement, Conscious Planet – Save Soil, which has touched more than 3.9 billion people.