A survivor of a near-death incident asks Sadhguru how to experience life more intensely. Instead of waiting for your car to crash, says Sadhguru, you can be alive to life in every moment.
Practicing for the Grave
Unfortunately, for a whole lot of people, they come alive only when you threaten them with death – whether it is war, or a car crash. When mortality confronts you in a big way, that is when you become fully alive – unfortunate! When you truly, genuinely confront your mortal nature, you understand that your aliveness is the most important thing.
When you truly, genuinely confront your mortal nature, you understand that your aliveness is the most important thing.
When I watch people, it looks like they are all practicing for the grave – what kind of pose, what kind of facial expressions they must have when they are in their grave. They do not understand they are mortal. They think they are going to be here forever, so they are practicing death when they are alive. But when you threaten them with death, they will become alive. Why do you think Krishna chose to give his teaching in a battlefield? Not in the quietness of an ashram, not in the beautiful jungles of India, not in the Himalayan cave, but on a treacherous battlefield – because without being threatened with mortality, most human beings do not have the intelligence to look at their life.
I think when these self-driving cars come, a lot of people may get realized! After some time, maybe you will learn to sleep on it, that is different, but initially, you do not know whether it is going to brake or not. You do not know whether it will stop in time or it will crash. I think in the first few months after self-driving cars become legal, there may be some realization on the planet! We must be ready for some enlightened people.
Coming Alive to Life
Do not wait for a car crash. You must know you may collapse and die right now. I am not wishing this on you. I will bless you with a long life. But it is possible. Every day so many people die like that. Sitting, standing, lying down – they die in all kinds of postures.
When you realize that you could die, suddenly you value life, becoming alive to it. I keep reminding people, in this life you cannot fail, everyone shall pass. You never saw anyone who was detained because they did not do life properly. Everyone passes. But most will pass without ever knowing what they passed through.
When you were about to crash, for a few moments you knew what you were passing through. The rest of the time, you do not know. Right now, your cerebral drama is overlapping upon everything. That means your silly creation is overlapping the magnificent creation that we are living in. When your silly creation broke, when you could not think or emote because of the sheer danger of the situation, suddenly it felt like you were truly alive. We are teaching you yoga, we are initiating you into so many processes just to help you distance yourself from your own drama, so that the cosmic drama comes into your perception. Without this, there is nothing to this life.
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