How Long Will You Take?

“The first thing is to create an aspiration. 'I want to know, I want to know, I want to know.' It must bother you from within. If the aspiration does not bother you, seeking will not take you beyond limitations because every human being has them.”

—Sadhguru

Namaskaram Sadhguru. You have said that you are in a hurry, and that you would like to work with people towards different possibilities. What can we do?

The first and the foremost thing is iccha. Iccha means a strong aspiration or desire. If iccha is not strong enough, whenever a small difficulty comes your way, you will take the sideline. This will happen if you trek in the mountains. On our last trek to Kailash, we went through the Manang Valley to Thorong La, via the Thorong La Pass. It is about 18,000 feet, sixty degree slopes. When you start climbing, your mind says, “Manang Valley is beautiful enough! Do we really have to go through that pass? It looks desolate up there. Everything is rocky, not a spot of green. But here in the Manang Valley, it is nice and full of flowers.” In your life, this will always be the trick of the mind. Those who rise beyond this trick go places – others will have a snack and sleep. Whether it is spirituality, business, music, art – or whatever – this will come when you pitch beyond your limits. Your mind says, “Is it really necessary? It is nice here, where is the need to go up the mountain?”

The first thing is to create an aspiration. “I want to know, I want to know, I want to know.” It must bother you from within. If the aspiration does not bother you, seeking will not take you beyond limitations because every human being has them. “Will I cross these limitations or succumb to them?” That is the question. Instead, people are asking, “What is the point, what will I achieve?” It is not an achievement. There is a very beautiful video about how a plant grows – all that the roots do to find nourishment and throw out one flower or fruit. Somebody filmed it and it is played on fast forward so you can see what the roots do just to survive and flourish. This struggle and this wanting to be something more than what you are is not because of a teaching – this is the very nature of life. In every sphere of life, human beings have strived. It is only because of the striving of a few human beings that you are enjoying many things in terms of science, technology, geography and spirituality. Many died trying, few made it. It is because of those few people that many things have happened on the planet.

The spiritual process is the same thing – is it hard? It is not hard, but if you are a hard nut, it is hard. The hardness is not in the spiritual process; the hardness is within you. If the aspiration becomes a burning aspiration, leave the rest to me, I will tell you what to do step by step. But if the aspiration is wavering every day, how to work? If I wanted to just initiate people into a simple fifteen or twenty minute meditation process, we could have done that; that is very simple. But somebody with fire can be taken to the ultimate goal. My intent is not that everybody is happy, healthy and sleeping comfortably. I want them to burn with a different light! Whether you live for thirty, ninety or one hundred years is not important to me. What is important is, “Did you access the Divine in your life? Did you burn with a light beyond flesh and bone?” This must happen to you in your life, otherwise what is the point? In this flesh and bone, even if you live for one hundred years, you will still have the same issues, believe me. More painful issues, that is all!

Look at older people, do they seem fulfilled with all the things they have done with their life? I am asking about people who have lived a full life. Don’t they looked pained at every step? Most people’s satisfaction is only that they didn’t get into the trouble their neighbor got into. “You know, I must be pretty okay. We never had those problems!” If you want to be one more statistic on the planet, you can be. But if you want to be an embodiment of the Divine, then there is another way to live. The first and foremost thing is aspiration; it must be a burning aspiration. If there is no burning aspiration, if there is no fire in you – what to do? How to direct when there is no fire in you? Make the fire happen. Don’t take thirty-five years to get the fire going.

How long will you take?