Too Much Too Soon? Are Money and Youth a Bad Combination?

“There are no two paths. There is only life. If you feel life is superficial, it means you are living superficially. You just have to go a little deeper into life.”

—Sadhguru

Sadhguru answers a few questions on how youth are making a lot more money in this generation, leading to a lot of disenchantment.

Question: There are people who start making money early in their lives. By 20 or 21, they are earning huge sums of money in big companies. But then, after some time, they feel that something is lacking in their lives; there is an empty feeling.

Sadhguru: What usually happened to a lot of people when they were 60, is happening to them when they are 24. They must be glad. Realization is coming soon. Otherwise they would have wasted their whole life and only then realized it.

The reason why previous generations did not realize this is because by the time they were 18, they were married. By 24, they had four children. The whole life was a struggle – getting four children educated and married. Then grandchildren came. And before you realized what happened, they put mud on you – it was your funeral.

Now, you are 25 and you are still not married. You got the money, you have seen the world and you know it doesn’t mean anything. It is good that people are realizing it early.

Question: So at that point of time, what do they have to do? What path should they take?

Sadhguru: There are no two paths. There is only life. If you feel life is superficial, it means you are living superficially. You just have to go a little deeper into life. Is there some other way? “No, I want to die”, “To be or not to be.” Death is also a part of your life. There is nothing else you can do here except life. The only choice you have is either to do it superficially or in a profound manner. Choose. What other choice is there?

Question: But here comes another question: How to choose the right Guru? A lot of people don’t know whom to believe.

Sadhguru: Don’t believe anyone. If you come to Isha, I’ll give you something simple. Work with it. If nothing happens to you, you leave. If it works, take the next step. Or if something ignites within you, I don’t have to tell you anything, anyway you will do what you have to do. Till then, just go one step at a time. If something happens, you stay on and take many more steps.

Question: But how do we know the goal?

Sadhguru: Do you see that you are living with certain limitations? The only goal is to become free from that. What you do on the way is according to your capability. Maybe you will sweep the floor or manage something or run a nation or whatever – that’s just on the way. This is the significance of being in India: Whether you are a king or an illiterate peasant or a great scholar, all of us are aspiring only for the same goal – mukti. Someone is not superior because he is a king. We are all going to the same place. Who goes there quicker is the only question.