Become an Extremist for Life

“We need extremists who are not against anything. Suppose you had no enemy, you were incapable of making an enemy, but you were an extremist. You would be a fantastic, intense human being, isn’t it? A very intense and wonderful life you would be.”

—Sadhguru

At a recent Sathsang with Sadhguru held during the Thaipoosam celebrations at the Isha Yoga Center, he stressed upon the importance of transforming ourselves into intense human beings. At the risk of being misunderstood, he talked about turning extremist for life – one that is “for” life and not against it.

Sadhguru:

We need extremists who are not against anything. We need such people. Right now, we are creating extremists who are always against somebody. The terrorists, for example, are causing havoc on this planet. But there is a certain dimension to them, which is very valuable. Terrorists are willing to die for what they hold as valuable. This is a great quality. The only problem is that they are against somebody. Suppose they had no enemy. Suppose you had no enemy, you were incapable of making an enemy, but you were an extremist. You would be a fantastic, intense human being, isn’t it? A very intense and wonderful life you would be.

If you do not create an enemy and you are an extremist, it is a great way to be because you will live an absolutely intense life. When you are not for anything or against anything, just an extremist, you will be a great piece of life. If you are for this, unknowingly you will become against that. You are just for everything and you are an extremist – this is what should happen to humanity. You need to be volatile, not in an imbalanced way. Explosive, not in a destructive way. Just that life is on at its fullest.

I am using the word extremist, understanding the danger of misinterpretation. Somebody will say, “Oh Sadhguru is preaching that everybody should become an extremist.” Yes, I am saying you must be an extremist. Because, what is the best that any human being can do? You can either live in a feeble way or a mediocre way, or a full-fledged way. This is all a human being can do. What extremes can you touch? Whatever you do, either you can touch extremes of anger, extremes of misery, extremes of hatred, extremes of peacefulness, extremes of joyfulness, extremes of love, extremes of devotion. Or extremes of intellect, or extremes of physical prowess. This is all you can do. What else can you do? Only if you are against somebody, now this being extreme finds expression in the form of a bomb, in the form of many other negative things. If you are for everything and you are extreme, you will be a full-fledged life, an absolutely intense life, and this is what needs to happen.

This is my wish and my blessing – that you must always be an intense piece of life, an absolute life, not for something, not against something. Just for life, but an intense piece of life.