In pursuit of human well-being, much has been done on this planet. In the last hundred years with the use of science and technology, we have done so much to create human well-being. As a result, definitely much comfort and convenience have come our way. But at the same time we cannot claim we are the most joyful generation on the planet. We cannot claim we are the most peaceful generation on the planet nor can we claim we are the most loving generation on the planet. Never before could another generation even dream of these kinds of conveniences and comforts. But has humanity become really well?
For this I think looking at India would be little unfair, because still there is a large chunk of population whose basic needs have not been met. Looking at Western societies, today the United States is standing as an example of ultimate success in terms of economics, but more than 40 percent of its people are on some kind of anti-depressants to keep themselves balanced. The outside has been sufficiently fixed, but human beings are not well, because we only take care of the outside; we never bother to take care of the inside.
Feel Pleasant In Mind
If you look at yourself and see when you really feel well, it is when there is pleasantness in your body, pleasantness in your mind, pleasantness in your emotion and pleasantness in the energy. Being pleasant in the body is generally referred to as health and pleasure. When you feel pleasant in your mind, we call it peace and joy. When you feel pleasant in your emotions, we call it love and compassion. When you feel pleasant in your energies we call it blissfulness and ecstasy. If these things happen within you to whatever extent possible, you feel well.
This wellness comes only when you achieve something. You cannot achieve something 24 hours of the day. It can happen only once in a while. That is not good enough. Everything that man has done on this planet has been a search of human well-being. A lot has happened, but human well-being is not happening because we have not paid any attention to the inward self.
Fixing the outside will only bring comfort and convenience. That is necessary, but well-being will happen only when you fix the inside. As you understand it, unless you do the right things outside, it will not work. But the fact is, unless you do the right things within, it will not work.
Situation Not In Control
As long as your well-being is subject to and enslaved by external situations, your well-being is going to be accidental, because nobody has 100 percent control over the outside situations. Whoever you may be, however powerful you are, you do not have 100 percent control over every situation. Any time outward things do not happen the way you think they should happen, the chances of you being well are very remote.
On one level, every human being is trying to expand the scope of his life. On another level, he is setting this impossible condition: “Unless the world is running the way I want it to be, I cannot be happy.†This is a no-win situation. You must accept the fact that you will be constantly working towards something, but it will never really happen.
Does that mean you cannot be well? No. But your well-being should not be linked to the external world.
Engineer Inner Self
Is there a way to create an inner situation? Yes. As there is a science and technology to create external situations the way we want it, we have a whole science and technology to create inner situations the way we want it. We have engineered the external world the way we want it, and we can also engineer our inner being the way we want it. If this doesn’t happen, we will function by accident.
Why are people getting stressed out, burnt out? Is it simply because of the nature of your work? Stress is your inability to manage your own system, but have we invested any time at all to manage our inner systems? If you do not do this, you will function by accident.
I request everybody to take this up in your life. If you really want to bring quality into your life and to perpetuate that quality into life around you, the first and foremost thing that you need to do is that you establish your inner realities in a certain way with a certain stability that what is within you, your mind, your emotions, your system, does not go through upheavals to face challenges of life. When there are no inner upheavals and issues, you can handle the outside issues well.
If you truly want to enhance the quality of your life, you have to take this step and be willing to invest a little bit of time for your inner well-being. If this is done, you will see a remarkable change in the way you function. The necessary technology is there. I call it inner engineering, the peak of well-being.
Isha Yoga’s Inner Engineering program is being offered May 6-12 at the Park Plaza Hotel, 1500 Park Place Blvd., in Minneapolis, MN. For more information on the Inner Engineering Program, please visit www.ishafoundation.org, call 612.325.6350 or email [email protected]
Read Personal Experiences about “Inner Engineering”
Read an interview with Sheela Rajdev, who works with Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev
