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Inner Engineering: A Yogi's Guide to Joy Hardcover – September 20, 2016
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“A loving invitation to live our best lives and a profound reassurance of why and how we can.”—Sir Ken Robinson, author of The Element, Finding Your Element, and Out of Our Minds: Learning to Be Creative
NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY SPIRITUALITY & HEALTH
The practice of hatha yoga, as we commonly know it, is but one of eight branches of the body of knowledge that is yoga. In fact, yoga is a sophisticated system of self-empowerment that is capable of harnessing and activating inner energies in such a way that your body and mind function at their optimal capacity. It is a means to create inner situations exactly the way you want them, turning you into the architect of your own joy.
A yogi lives life in this expansive state, and in this transformative book Sadhguru tells the story of his own awakening, from a boy with an unusual affinity for the natural world to a young daredevil who crossed the Indian continent on his motorcycle. He relates the moment of his enlightenment on a mountaintop in southern India, where time stood still and he emerged radically changed. Today, as the founder of Isha, an organization devoted to humanitarian causes, he lights the path for millions. The term guru, he notes, means “dispeller of darkness, someone who opens the door for you. . . . As a guru, I have no doctrine to teach, no philosophy to impart, no belief to propagate. And that is because the only solution for all the ills that plague humanity is self-transformation. Self-transformation means that nothing of the old remains. It is a dimensional shift in the way you perceive and experience life.”
The wisdom distilled in this accessible, profound, and engaging book offers readers time-tested tools that are fresh, alive, and radiantly new. Inner Engineering presents a revolutionary way of thinking about our agency and our humanity and the opportunity to achieve nothing less than a life of joy.
- Print length288 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherHarmony
- Publication dateSeptember 20, 2016
- Dimensions5.7 x 1 x 8.5 inches
- ISBN-109780812997798
- ISBN-13978-0812997798
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“By any measure, Sadhguru is a remarkable man. For countless people around the world, he is a luminous spiritual guide. He is as well a pragmatic social activist and compassionate campaigner for human rights, for universal education, and for global peace and well-being. In this signature book, he sets out the personal experiences and deep insights that have transformed his own life and consciousness. More than that, he offers a practiced program for personal transformation that also draws from the venerable teachings of the yogic masters who continue to inspire him. Throughout the ages there have been no more insistent questions than 'Who are we?' and 'What is our purpose in living at all?' Contrarian and consistent, ancient and contemporary, Inner Engineering is a loving invitation to live our best lives and a profound reassurance of why and how we can.”—Sir Ken Robinson, author of The Element, Finding Your Element, and Out of Our Minds: Learning to Be Creative
“I am inspired by Sadhguru’s capacity for joy, his exuberance for life, and the depth and breadth of his curiosity and knowledge. His book is filled with moments of wonder, awe, and intellectual challenge. I highly recommend it for anyone interested in self-transformation.”—Mark Hyman, M.D., director, Cleveland Clinic Center for Functional Medicine, and New York Times bestselling author
“Inner Engineering is a fascinating read of Sadhguru’s insights and his teachings. If you are ready, it is a tool to help awaken your own inner intelligence, the ultimate and supreme genius that mirrors the wisdom of the cosmos.”—Deepak Chopra
About the Author
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Once it happened . . . A customer walking into Shankaran Pillai’s pharmacy saw a man outside hugging a lamppost, his eyeballs rolling wildly.
When he walked in, he asked, “Who’s that man? What’s wrong with him?”
Shankaran Pillai replied, unperturbed, “Oh, that guy. He’s one of my customers.”
“But what’s the matter with him?”
“He wanted something for a whooping cough. I gave him the appropriate medicine.”
“What did you give him?”
“A box of laxatives. I made him take it right here.”
“Laxatives for a whooping cough! Why on earth would you give him that?”
“Oh come on, you saw him. You think he dares to cough anymore?”
Shankaran Pillai’s box of laxatives is emblematic of the type of solution being peddled all over the world today for those in search of well-being. It is the fundamental reason the term “guru” has become a four-letter word.
Unfortunately, we have forgotten the real meaning of the word. “Guru” literally means “dispeller of darkness.” The function of the guru, contrary to popular belief, is not to teach, indoctrinate, or convert. The guru is here to throw light on dimensions beyond your sensory perceptions and your psychological drama, dimensions that you are currently unable to perceive. The guru is here, fundamentally, to throw light on the very nature of your existence.
There are many spurious and dangerously misleading teachings in vogue in our world today. “Be in the moment” is one of them. The assumption is that you could be somewhere else, if you wanted. How is that even possible? The present is the only place that you can be. If you live, you live in this moment. If you die, you die in this moment. This moment is eternity. How are you going to escape it, even if you try?
Right now your problem is that you suffer what happened ten years ago and you suffer what may happen the day after tomorrow. Both are not living truths. They are simply a play of your memory and imagination. Does this mean then that in order to find peace you must annihilate your mind? Not at all. It simply means you need to take charge of it. Your mind carries the enormous reserves of memory and the incredible possibilities of the imagination that are the result of an evolutionary process of millions of years. If you can use it when you want and put it aside when you don’t, the mind can be a fantastic tool. To shun the past and neglect the future is to trivialize this wonderful faculty. So “be in the moment” becomes a crippling psychological restriction—it denies our existential reality.
“Do only one thing at a time” has become another popular self-help slogan. Why would you do only one thing when the mind is a phenomenal multidimensional machine, capable of handling several levels of activity all at once? Instead of harnessing and learning to ride the mind, why would you want to obliterate it? When you can know the heady joy of mental action, why would you opt for a lobotomy, for voluntary cabbage-hood?
The other phrase that has hardened into cliché through overuse is “positive thinking.” When it is oversimplified and used as some quick-fix mantra, positive thinking becomes a way of whitewashing or sugarcoating your reality. When you are unable to process real-time information and control your psychological drama, you seize on “positive thinking” as a tranquilizer. Initially, it might seem to imbue your life with new confidence and optimism. But it is essentially limited. In the long term, if you deny or amputate one part of reality, it gives you a lopsided perspective of life.
Then there is the time-honored business of exporting human well-being to the heavens and claiming that the core of the universe is love. Love is a human possibility. If you need a refresher course, you can take lessons from your dog. He is full of love! You don’t have to go to outer space to know love. All these puerile philosophies come from the assumption that existence is human-centric. This single idea has robbed us of all sense and made us commit some of the most inhuman and heinous crimes throughout history. These continue to perpetuate themselves to this very day.
As a guru, I have no doctrine to teach, no philosophy to impart, no belief to propagate. And that is because the only solution for all the ills that plague humanity is selftransformation. Self-transformation is not incremental selfimprovement. Self-transformation is achieved not by morals or ethics or attitudinal or behavioral changes, but by experiencing the limitless nature of who we are. Self-transformation means nothing of the old remains. It is a dimensional shift in the way you perceive and experience life.
Knowing this is yoga. One who embodies this is a yogi. One who guides you in this direction is a guru.
My aim in this book is to help make joy your constant companion. To make that happen, this book offers you not a sermon, but a science; not a teaching, but a technology; not a precept, but a path. It is now time to start exploring that science, working the technology, walking the path.
On this journey, the guru is not the destination but the road map. The inner dimension is uncharted terrain. If you are exploring terrain that is unfamiliar to you, isn’t it better to have signposts? You could find your own way, but who knows, it could take lifetimes. When you’re on unfamiliar terrain, it’s just sensible to take directions. On one level, that is all a guru is—a live road map. GPS: Guru Pathfinding System!
And that’s why there exists that infamous four-letter word.
Just to make things doubly easy for you, I thought I’d make it eight . . .
Product details
- ASIN : 0812997794
- Publisher : Harmony; 1st edition (September 20, 2016)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 288 pages
- ISBN-10 : 9780812997798
- ISBN-13 : 978-0812997798
- Item Weight : 2.31 pounds
- Dimensions : 5.7 x 1 x 8.5 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #18,054 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #29 in Yoga (Books)
- #29 in Consciousness & Thought Philosophy
- #102 in Meditation (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the authors

Sadhguru is a yogi, mystic and visionary. Named one of India’s 50 most influential people, Sadhguru’s work has touched the lives of millions worldwide through his transformational programs. Sadhguru has a unique ability to make the ancient yogic sciences relevant to contemporary minds. His approach does not ascribe to any belief system but offers methods for self-transformation that are both proven and powerful.
An internationally renowned speaker and author of the New York Times Bestseller Inner Engineering, A Yogi’s Guide to Joy, Sadhguru has been an influential voice at major global forums including the United Nations and the World Economic Forum, addressing issues as diverse as socioeconomic development, leadership and spirituality. He has also been invited to speak at leading educational institutions, including Oxford, London Business School, IMD, Stanford, Harvard, Yale, Wharton and MIT. In February 2017, Sadhguru was the recipient of the Padma Vibhushan Award by the Government of India, the highest annual civilian award, accorded for exceptional and distinguished service.
Dedicated to the physical, mental and spiritual wellbeing of humanity and gifted with utter clarity of perception, Sadhguru possesses a perspective on life that never fails to intrigue, challenge and surprise all those he encounters. Sadhguru established Isha Foundation, a non-profit, volunteer-run organization operating in more than 300 centers and supported by over 11 million volunteers worldwide. Through powerful yoga programs for inner transformation and inspiring social outreach initiatives, Isha Foundation has created a massive movement dedicated to addressing all aspects of human wellbeing.
Sadhguru has also initiated several projects for social revitalization, education and the environment through which millions of people have been given the means to overcome poverty, improve their quality of life and achieve community-based, sustainable development.
In the fall of 2017, Sadhguru initiated Rally For Rivers, a nationwide campaign aiming to implement sustainable and long-term policy changes to revitalize India’s severely depleted rivers, which found great support among India’s people and leadership. With over 162 Million individuals pledging their support, Rally for Rivers is the largest ecological movement in the world to date. In the fall of 2019, Sadhguru launched Cauvery Calling, a uniquely modelled project that focuses on enhancing farmer wealth while simultaneously impacting river flow and riverine ecosystems. It will enable farmers in the Cauvery basin spanning Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, to plant 2.42 billion trees.
In the United States, Isha Foundation is headquartered at the Isha Institute of Inner-sciences in the Cumberland Plateau of Tennessee, Isha Institute is established as infrastructure for raising human consciousness, and offers a variety of programs that provide methods for anyone to explore and experience the yogic science in its full depth.

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Customers find the book thought-provoking, practical, and entertaining. They describe it as a worthy read with concise, matter-of-fact presentation. Readers also say the book brings a state of constant joy and fullness in their experience.
AI-generated from the text of customer reviews
Customers find the book thought-provoking. They say it masterfully mixes wisdom and intrigue with insight and practical everyday advice on how to control one's internal world. Readers mention the complex topics are presented thoughtfully but simply for lay people. They also say the methods taught are emprical and experiential. Readers mention the book is life-changing for those reading with an open mind.
"...This book does not provide any sort of ideology, philosophy, dogma, or form of belief systems...." Read more
"...this for six months and you will never stop” I was struck by the confidence and simplicity of which Sadhguru said this, I couldn’t understand why..." Read more
"...There is so much wisdom in every line. I will be referring back to it as I did to my Hutchinson manual( in my medical school time)...." Read more
"...It’s a good guide to all seekers who wants to harness their inner strengths, finding peace in itself and liberations from outward sufferings...." Read more
Customers find the book interesting, informative, and entertaining. They describe it as profound and practical. Readers also mention it gives a beautiful idea of yoga without being confusing or too thought-provoking.
"...sentence, every word has been crafted carefully - just reading the book is a great joy!..." Read more
"This book is an absolute treasure. It has enhanced my understanding of life and Shambhavi on an even greater level than I originally understood...." Read more
"...So this is a very practical book which we can immediately put to use. I recommend it for everyone." Read more
"...: A Yogi's Guide to Joy" is an informative, inspiring, and engaging book that explains certain aspects of the yogic sciences to the Western..." Read more
Customers find the book well-written, easy to read, and concise. They say the presentation is simplistic but still powerful. Readers also mention the book provides an excellent guide for beginners.
"...Every passage, every sentence, every word has been crafted carefully - just reading the book is a great joy!..." Read more
"...life transforming tool. Inner Engineering Book is a wonderful and accessible tool for those who haven't taken Inner Engineering program..." Read more
"...(Intellect), "Chitta" (Consciousness) are explained with impeccable clarity and insight...." Read more
"...Sadhguru's presentation is concise and matter-of-fact, while also at the same time conversational, humorous, and memorable...." Read more
Customers find the book brings a state of constant joy fullness in their experience. They say it makes them alive and desires a vibrant, joyful, happy, and meaningful life. Readers also mention the book has an immense capability to get them calm, focused, and energetic.
"...I am feeling before I sit down, my perception changes; I always, always feel better, relaxed yet alert, happier and energized...." Read more
"...Life changed. I am meditative,peaceful, joyful and grateful to this life and everything around me...." Read more
"...It's relaxing and ey opening. Definitely will read again!!!Recommend buying !!!!" Read more
"...book and implementing everything that Sadhguru has to say, makes me alive, and makes me realise what life really is...." Read more
Customers have mixed opinions about the value for money of the book. Some mention it's worth every penny, while others say it's a total disappointment and an annoying waste of paper.
"...funny read by a nice fire, Sadghuru's book is definitely not a waste of money! I enjoyed it." Read more
"...self-referential stories that add zero substance and are an annoying waste of paper.The next 30 pages aren’t much better...." Read more
"...ourselfs for what we truly are meant to be, simple, power and free. This book has become my inner body manual." Read more
"...to appreciate his writing or is this one of the most boring and tiring books I've ever opened?..." Read more
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It's a strange thing how from the beginning of our lives we are put on a wheel where we are constantly running in pursuit of happiness. We chase money, power, pleasure, love, sex, drugs. We spend so much time and energy chasing other people, and material objects. We chase a certain status, a certain recognition from society. We become slaves to our desires. By the time one desire is fulfilled we have a hundred other desires waiting. We come into this life with all sorts of expectations, if we don't get what we want we are miserable - but even when these desires are fulfilled we often find ourselves missing something or looking forward to the next desire, and like this life just flies by and before we know it we are on our death beds. There is a constant greed within us for more and more, we are never willing to settle. The biggest problem is - We have everything, but we don't have ourselves. Our experience of life is just limited to this body and mind, but these are just things we've accumulated over time, so then who are we? What is the nature of our existence? Society provides us with all sorts of belief systems, philosophies, religions. You run to your priests for answers, you run to the scriptures for answers. You look into books for answers, yet you are still not settled, the longing for more is still there, misery is still there, you are not free.
Through inner engineering, Sadhguru talks about desire, the nature of joy, the mind, the body, what it takes to live a life of fulfillment. He addresses the fundamental longing within each human being and his meditative courses provide the methods to which one can know what is beyond this body and mind. I cannot recommend this book enough for anyone who is interested in growth, inner transformation, happiness, fulfillment, spirituality or just life itself. No matter what stage of life you're in or what your background is - this book can definitely be of great use. This book does not provide any sort of ideology, philosophy, dogma, or form of belief systems. Everything is based on Sadhguru's own sheer experience of life and therefore people from all walks of life can take something from it. A life transforming chance - don't miss out!
I am humbly grateful to have learned more than I ever could have imagined from SADHGURU.
I started Sadhguru’s 21 minute Inner Engineering daily practice called Shambhavi in 2010 ; a tool to enhance one’s life in creating inner and outer well being.
At the end of the Inner Engineering weekend course I took in August 2010, a closing video of Sadhguru was shown, Sadhguru said something to the effect “do this 21 minute practice for 40 days and see what happens, do this for six months and you will never stop” I was struck by the confidence and simplicity of which Sadhguru said this, I couldn’t understand why such an incredibly simple anyone can do practice, which even for a distracted mind only included a few minutes of meditation, could alter one so powerfully so as not to want me to stop! At the time I admit, I was in a place where I felt the need to do something about the way I was living life, …I wanted to know more, even though I was not sure what more was - what I did know, I was ready and eager to make changes to the way I was experiencing life. I yearned to modify the cyclical cycle of experiences occurring in my life, including cyclical thoughts and emotions. Since this practice seemed so basic - I decided there and then that I had to commit experience the unknown and actually see for myself - if this could this be true. I also knew this was not going to be an easy task, at a stretch; the idea of a disciplined routine of any kind other than working out was clearly not one of my best virtues. It is 2016 and I have not stopped. I can honestly say I cannot stop. The inner transformations and ever increasing state of internal and external awareness and changes have been nothing less than phenomenal and only continue to grow. This is why I do it everyday without fail, otherwise why bother. No matter how tired I am, I by pass the chatter of the mind and it’s vigorous aim to distract me, and commit. And, no matter how I am feeling before I sit down, my perception changes; I always, always feel better, relaxed yet alert, happier and energized.
This is only one of many reasons why I am humbly thankful to Sadhguru and all I have learned during these last six years.





