Inner Engineering: A Yogi's Guide to Joy Kindle Edition

Yesterday I cut two oranges to juice for my morning smoothie. As I was juicing one of them, I heard myself say, "This orange is BAD. It's so dry."

Option 1: "It's so dry I'm getting less than a quarter cup. Instead of needing only two oranges, I'm going to have to juice four. What a ripoff. I'm paying double for oranges. And now I have to go to the store to get more oranges. What if they're bad, too?"

Option 2: "It is what it is: a dry orange. I'll just have to juice four instead of two. Better get another bag of oranges."

Sadhguru writes, "...whatever the events and situations around you, you don't get crushed by them; you ride them." And, "To mold situations the way you want them you must first know who you are. The crux of the matter is that you don't yet know who you are. Who you are is not the sum total of accumulations you have made. Everything that you currently know as 'myself' is just an accumulation. Your body is just an accumulation of food. Your mind is just an accumulation of impressions gathered through the five senses. What you accumulate can be yours, but it can never be you... You are trying to live your life through what you have gathered, not through who you are. What's more, you are not even a hundred percent conscious of what you have gathered!"

That's what this book is about. It's about understanding your true, divine self and that everything that happens to you happens internally. Most people go through life letting external events dictate who they are and how they should feel. They spend most of their time in memories of the past or in imaginal futures, usually of a bad kind. Instead of eating from the Tree of Life, we eat continually from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and make judgments based on where our experience falls. The dry orange is evil. We also tend to discontinue growth and solidify over time as we acquire beliefs: "Belief is just like morality. People who believe something often think they are superior to others. All that happens the moment you believe something is that your stupidity acquires confidence." This is so true. The more I learn about something, the more I realize how ignorant I am.

"Every thought that arises in the mind has its roots in data you have already accumulated. The data may be gathered consciously or unconsciously...your intellect is perpetually immersed in the past. In such a state, nothing new is now possible. And so, the intellect loses its edge and becomes a trap." And, "The very seat of your experience is within you, but your perception is entirely outward bound."

So what is yoga and how does it help us evolve? I'll let the author answer.

"...the fundamental desire within every human being is for boundless expansion... When their longing finds conscious expression, we call this yoga."

"The science of yoga is, quite simply, the science of being in perfect alignment, in absolute harmony, in complete sync with existence...yoga is the science of creating inner situations exactly the way you want them."

"When you are in yoga, it means that in your experience, everything has become one. This is the essence of the science. This is also its deepest aim."

"Yoga is fundamentally aimed at enhancing your experience beyond the five senses."

"So in yoga, we learn to trust the body. We transform the physical body from a series of compulsions of flesh, blood, and hormones into a conscious process, a powerful instrument of perception and knowing."

"The entire yogic process is aimed at aligning oneself with the natural longing of life to expand in an unlimited way... Yoga means to experience the mental and physical process distinctly, not as the basis of yourself, but as that which is caused by you."

"So the quality of your life is always decided by how you experience life, not by what life offers you."

"The yogic practices, which involve postures, breath, attitudes of mind, and energy activation, are all essentially oriented toward aligning the first three layers of the body: the physical, the mental, and the energetic body. It is only in aligning them that you find access to dimensions beyond the physical--to the fundamental life energy itself."

Two years ago I basically hit rock bottom. Life seemed ridiculous and futile. I knew I had to do something or I would have to leave the planet. I didn't want to be here. So I began studying New Thought writings from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. I spent hours every day studying, meditating, thinking, disciplining my mind. I changed my negative thoughts into positive thoughts. I transformed myself, and I continue because I have a long way to go. I used to look back on my life and think, "What a crappy life I chose." Now I look back and think of all the challenges I have overcome and the many lessons I've learned through this difficult life. I learned to become happy.

Spiritual evolution is a discipline of learning about yourself. It takes time and effort. It is not acquiring a set of beliefs or attaching ourselves to doctrines. As Neville Goddard said, "The true test of religion is in its use, but men have made it a thing to defend."

The first time I read this book I loved it, but I couldn't review it. It was all a jumble. Too much information. Then I read it again, and still, a jumble. How do I review this? Then again, and this time I paid attention to the chapter titles to orient myself, and it took better form in my mind. Inner Engineering is not a book to be read once and set aside. It is a book to be studied, especially for someone new to the path. The keys to the kingdom are in here, but you have to recognize and wade through your own preconceptions, judgments, beliefs, and preferences.

I highly recommend this book. There's far greater treasure in here than first appears. The exercises themselves could take years to practice. And I finally understand the physical practice of yoga and how it can be used to evolve. I will leave you with one more gem that spoke to me:

"Unfortunately, most human beings are doing much the same thing: they are labeling their compulsions, their limitations, as their choices. If you can joyfully do whatever is needed in a given situation, this is freedom. But limiting yourself to doing only what you like is a horribly compulsive way to live." I choose freedom. Time to clean the bathroom. Joyfully.

[...]
Sadhguru wants to be a “dispeller of darkness.” He believes that living joyfully is not “magical” but can be done systematically, like an engineering problem. He has written the book in two parts–first he describes the landscape and then he lays out a route on how to get there.

The description of the landscape is from a perspective of personal experience. He describes how he developed as a highly curious and observant person. The first step is to know that you know nothing or very little. That opens the door to really knowing anything. He was not a disciplined student, except towards his yoga routine. He did well in a couple of businesses he started and was feeling quite confident and successful. Then one day when he was twenty five, he was heart broken, and went up on a hill to contemplate. There he was enlightened in an afternoon of reverie and dropped all that was “me and mine.” He saw all boundaries melt away. This experience transformed him physically–even the shape of his eyes, his gait. People started getting cured just by seeing him. He himself felt that he had supernatural powers. He gained many lifetimes of memory and became aware of a “million things.” He decided to go beyond the rational and logical and embrace the “intelligence of life itself.”

He realized that goal of all human endeavor is to liberate itself of boundaries. We all want to be in a state of pleasantness. Pleasantness comes from whatever we lack at that time. If you are hungry, food is what you need, if you are tired, then a comfortable bed is what you need. When we are love lorn, we need our beloved to be with us. But after all these needs are met, we still need to expand ourselves more. Therefore, the ultimate goal is to transcend all boundaries. And this feeling can only come from how we experience the world around us, not only from how comfortable is the physical world. All experience is ultimately inside of us.

Sadhguru wants people to not take refuge in destiny or karma. He wants people to have “responsibility–ability to respond to situations.” Not react compulsively, but to respond consciously. And your ability to respond is limitless. Your ability to act is limited by resources and capability, but not the ability to respond.

And how should one respond? By being in total sync with existence. Align your physical body, your mind and your energies totally to existence and that will lead to liberation and pure joy.

In the second part of the book, Sadhguru lays out a path to improve the body, mind and our energies. Body is improved by doing the physical asanas, keeping our spine erect, and slowing down our breath. Body is nourished by food, which he recommends should be vegetarian or at most fish, no higher animals. Sleep and sex are basic needs of the body and should be met so the body is at peace. It creates problems when you deny or moralize basic human drives.

When it comes to mind, the essential step is realizing the difference between you and what you have accumulated. Sadhguru recommends to learn to keep your intellect in awareness, not in memory.

There is one energy which manifests itself as everything. Kriya is the way to channel energies. But this can only happen when you are initiated by someone. This is where he talks about his Shambhavi Mahamudra which is taught in the Inner Engineering courses.

Overall, the book is an easy read, filled with entertaining anecdotes which begin “Once it happened….” Those of you who have watched him live or seen his YouTube videos know that he has an easy conversational style which is engaging and refreshing. This comes through in the book as well.

While the thoughts and discussion he presents are mostly in line with “Analytical Faith”, there are a few areas where he strains belief. For example, where he describes the power of breath. He says, “Slow it down to nine breaths–we know the language of all creatures, slow it to six you know the language of earth, reduce it to three and you know the language of creation.” He also claims power to heal himself and others. If is through a better understanding of your body and mind, it makes sense, but if it is through some deep kriya beyond the operation of body and mind, then it is “magic” and not engineering.