Doors Wide Open

“If we can transform the lives of at least a few million people in a powerful way, even after we die, these few million people will multiply the seed of transformation.”

—Sadhguru

In the last one year, the reach of Isha Yoga has grown exponentially, both in India and outside the country. I have been trying to put my foot on the brakes and reduce this insane amount of travel, but it looks like all the three pedals are throttles. And in the coming weeks, it is getting busier than ever before. Normally, at my age, people retire. For me, it looks like a whole new life is beginning. But better to die of exhaustion than of sloth and boredom.

The world is beginning to realize the immensity and the impact of what we have to transmit. Today, doors are wide open for us around the world and in various fields – whether it is business, politics, academia, or whatever else. I don’t care about doors being open for me personally. What is fantastic is that doors are open for the spiritual process – fantastic for those who receive it and for the world as a whole. If we can transform the lives of at least a few million people in a powerful way, even after we die, these few million people will multiply the seed of transformation. This seed that I received from my Guru is a very potent one. And the soil seems to be super ready, wherever we go. There is going to be a great harvest soon.

The International Day of Yoga is a great platform to make this available to large numbers of people. This year, we want to reach out to the most important segment of human population – the children. My initial plan was to touch at least ten thousand schools across India. On an average, there are about eight hundred to nine hundred children in every school. That means we could reach about eight to nine million children.

After going on a forty-eight hour, five-state tour last week, meeting the respective Chief Ministers, and receiving very positive responses, it looks like it will be well over ten thousand schools. They are all very open to this idea and willing to support it in every possible way. We are going to roll out the project in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, six districts of Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and probably also Maharashtra and Gujarat. On the face of it, touching more than 10,000 schools may seem like an impossible task, but we have the methodology to make it happen.

In recent years, the number of children committing suicide has risen drastically. If children are committing suicide, there is something fundamentally wrong in a society. One of the main reasons is they are not able to take the pressure of education and examinations. In one particular district, Kota in Rajasthan, the suicide rate among students is extremely high. Around one hundred fifty thousand students from all over North India are studying there in coaching institutions to prepare for competitive exams.

These children are under so much pressure that some of them break and commit suicide. We have established contacts with all of these institutions, and our teachers have started teaching Upa-yoga and Isha Kriya there. We will make sure that in the next one-and-a-half months, these one hundred fifty thousand students are getting equipped with at least a simple form of yoga.

So our main focus for this year’s Yoga Day events is children. Apart from that, we are going to conduct many other events in and outside the country. We are also going to touch various corporations, public sector undertakings, and Indian embassies abroad. On Yoga Day itself, 21st of June, I will speak at the United Nations. Moreover, as a part of the International Yoga Day events, we will conduct a twenty-one day program at the Isha Yoga Center for those who want to learn some serious hatha yoga. And those who do not have twenty-one days but still want to experience hatha yoga in its classical form can come from 26th May to 2nd June.

This eight-day event will be a great opportunity for you to learn different aspects of hatha yoga that you can fit into any kind of lifestyle and benefit from it. Otherwise, as you get older and you see how people who are doing yoga float around in spite of their age, you will wish you had done some hatha yoga. This event now is a chance for you to fulfill that wish before it is too late and you look back at life in regret. It is better to do it when you are still well and can prepare yourself for a life of possibilities.

If you do not knead your body well enough, accessing deeper dimensions of meditativeness, exploring other aspects of the spiritual process, and realizing mystical possibilities is out of question. I would say at least ninety-five percent of the people on this planet cannot sit in meditation for long periods of time unless they prepare their body with hatha yoga. Only three to five percent are able to settle into meditativeness without preparation, because of their karma.

We offer hatha yoga in its classical form, as a powerful science of knowing your system. What will make this eight-day hatha yoga event unique is that I will personally conduct a session and answer questions. What’s more, I have devised a special sadhana that you can do while being in these consecrated spaces to make yourself available to receive this cascade of Grace. We will also provide a certain level of theory to give you a deeper understanding of your own system, how it works, and how to enhance it. This knowledge is most important for any human being to live a sensible and fulfilling life.

Love & Grace,

Sadhguru