Obliterating Boundaries

“Essentially, yoga means the science of erasing boundaries. From the simplest creature to the human being, in their most basic state of existence, their whole life is about fixing boundaries.”

—Sadhguru

Essentially, yoga means the science of erasing boundaries. From the simplest creature to the human being, in their most basic state of existence, their whole life is about fixing boundaries. You will see a dog is going about peeing all over the place, not because he has a urinary problem, but because he is fixing his boundaries. Like this, every creature is fixing their own boundaries including human beings, all the time.

In the ashram, we kind of try to obliterate the boundaries but even within that people fix their own boundaries because they have to pee around a little bit, otherwise they’ll feel homeless. Most human beings, unfortunately, cannot simply live in this universe. They want to live in a cubicle. They want to live in a prison. They do not want to live in the vast cosmos, which is available for them to experience and dwell in.

Yoga means, in every possible way, preparing a human being to slowly obliterate his boundaries so that he can simply be. You need to understand this, if you create a boundary, one thing is you have to define it, next thing is you have to defend it – if the boundary becomes large you have to build an army. Every nation has an army not just for fun, but because once you have a boundary you have to defend it otherwise someone will try to breach it. That boundary is important for you, you have to defend it, you have to fight for it, you have to die for it. All these things will come. So yoga means to become free from that, where you obliterate the boundaries. If you sit here, you simply sit here in this universe; you don’t need a boundary of your own. You do not need that so-called your own space. Anyway there is no “your own space.” You may think it is yours, it is delusional.

The physical has a boundary, that is not the issue – that is the basic trait of physicality. However, that has seeped into your psychology. Now your mind wants a boundary, your emotions want a boundary. Because you have invested in creating many boundaries, that which is boundless within you is out of your reach, out of your experience. This is all it is. Because you are investing time and energies and whatever intelligence you have into how to build a boundary of your own, that which is boundless slips out of your experience.

It is all your doing, it is your own karma that you are separated from the universe. You feel lonely in something that is so alive and inclusive. When we talk about Adiyogi, we call him a yogi, we call anyone a yogi because he has breached the boundaries or wiped out the boundaries within himself. And as we know, he is the first one to do that, so we call him Adiyogi. When we establish him, that will be his energy. If people come and sit there, slowly their lives will start moving towards obliterating the boundaries in their life and journeying towards the boundless. That is the only goal; there is no other goal always whatever we do.

Now that we are in the process of creating Adiyogi Shrines in various places across the world, it is important that we make people understand the true context of this. He is the one who for the very first time reminded and offered methods for effectively going beyond the boundaries set by nature. The idea life can evolve is his; that evolution need not be limited to physical form alone, one can consciously evolve, is the most liberating possibility opened by him. The whole science of yoga is His. It is my endeavor that such a great being should be acknowledged for the phenomenal contribution that was made. Stand by me in fulfilling this as these will be a powerful means to raise human consciousness.

Love & Blessings,

Sadhguru