If you do things when it's convenient is that Volunteering? Sadhguru

Be in Upasana - Sadhguru

Isha Hata Yoga - 21 days of "Hata bliss"

Isha Vidhya - A Volunteers's Story. Building the Grassroot Rural Strenght.

Volunteer for life - Sadhguru

Give openly, without expecting anything in return, and attain mukti.

Volunteering means willingness. When we do things out of our own inspiration, it is called volunteering. If we are inspired, who can stop us? We are not doing it for any purpose; just out of our inspiration. Since the willingness has come from within us, there is no calculation.

Unfortunately, in our day-to-day lives, it doesn’t matter where we go; whether to buy vegetables, or gold, or to get married? Our main concern at these times is to give less and get more. We are considered smart if we manage to get more for less.

But life does not operate like that. Volunteering means to give openly without expecting anything in return. Once we do this, we’ll acquire a different kind of strength. Once we gain this strength of being what we are whether we receive anything in return or not, we’ll get mukti.

Volunteering means just that. It is a rare sadhana. Every human being should make use of this. Every moment of our lives, wherever we are, we should be a volunteer. To make this a part of our lives, we should start by volunteering at our homes, offices and in our neighborhood. We can do small things like -

• Helping our family members and neighbours in their work without them asking for help.

• Complete a pending household chore or take up something new.

• Plant a tree or a plant in a flower pot and tend to it daily.

• Educate children for half an hour a week

• Spend time and share our joy with underprivileged children or old people

• Cook and serve the needy

When we take up these activities regularly, we’ll see that it makes a big difference. Our life will be full of actions that happen out of our own willingness and not under somebody’s pressure. This is volunteering; this is a life of freedom.

The Wave of Bliss with Sadhguru's Mega Program along with the Glimpses of Volunteering in Isha

Sadhguru has started a vibrant spiritual movement throughout Tamil Nadu known as “Ananda Alai – A Wave of Bliss.” Through a series of Mahasathsangs, and Mega Classes – large spiritual gatherings drawing anywhere from 10 to 15 thousand people – he seeks to offer every individual at least “one drop of spirituality” in their lifetime.

This video is a glimpse of the Wave of Bliss which is sweeping the state of Tamil Nadu.

One Drop-Spirituality

At least one drop of spiritual process must exist in every human being, because the possibility of being human cannot be explored when you exist just as a physical entity. The greatest crime you can commit against yourself and humanity is that you are not a full-fledged life, you are a half-a-life. And when your life is limited to the physical you are much less than half-a-life.


- Sadhguru

There is a story in the Ramayana. There was a lady named Ahalya who became a stone. She had to be touched by somebody to come alive as a human being. Most human beings need this touch otherwise they will remain like stones. That story is very significant. She waited like a stone – it does not mean she actually became a stone. She waited like a stone until Rama came and touched her.

So this touch is needed for most human beings. This is only because somewhere people have become like half-stones. They will not come alive by themselves. If they did, it would have been great. I could just spend time golfing or doing something else, but they won’t. Human consciousness needs to be handled – it is very important.

Everything else is in place, please see this. For the first time in the history of humanity – even twenty five years ago this wouldn’t have been possible, we couldn’t have dreamt of it. Today, we can address every human problem on the planet – from nourishment, health, education – you name it, we can address everything.

In the year 2009, the world produced enough food for 18 billion people, but we are only seven billion people, and still over 40% of the world’s population goes hungry, they are still malnourished. We are producing food for eighteen billion people; out of seven billion people, almost three billion people don’t get to eat. We have the needed resource, we have the needed capability, we have the needed technology to handle these things, but we are still nowhere near handling it because the necessary inclusive consciousness is missing. This needs to happen. Raising human consciousness is the most important priority on the planet right now.

As a part of this, we have started the mega programs in Tamil Nadu. We are really causing a spiritual revolution. It has been twenty-one years since I stepped into Tamil Nadu, and initially it was an uphill task, but today there is no door that does not open. In literally every village, every little town, it is on in a big way. I have not taught a Tamil program in the last thirteen years and I am going back once again on the road show. Though I know approximately thirty-three words in Tamil, I manage to speak within that. Each town is all fired up and they have been going all out. I want you to imagine this – in small towns, where population is in the range of three or four lakhs, if fifteen thousand people begin to meditate at once, the impact of it is phenomenal.

Volunteers have worked very hard to make this one big success and to create the possibility of making the spiritual process not as a teaching, but as a way of life for everybody, irrespective of their caste, creed, religion, gender – making it available to everyone. And it is just multiplying.

The idea is to make sure that every human being has some kind of a spiritual process, which was the reality of this country just a generation or two ago. Every home, every family had their own simple spiritual process. But in the last three to four generations we have damaged it substantially. It’s time to build it back.

Now, we don’t expect that the whole population will go through programs. All this discipline is just for a certain level of mind, but for others, we will give an extremely simple process that anybody can teach to anybody, so that everybody has something. We are doing what is called as “Oru shottu aanmeekam,” that means “one drop of spirituality.” At least one drop of spiritual process must exist in every human being, because the possibility of being human cannot be explored when you exist just as a physical entity. The greatest crime you can commit against yourself and humanity is that you are not a full-fledged life, you are a half-a-life. And when your life is limited to the physical you are much less than half-a-life. There are other dimensions to a human being which must be explored.

When it first happened to me, when it just blew my mind and left me in an ecstatic state, I just sat here, blowing like a volcano and I thought, “If I just sit here it happens. What is the problem? I am going to make the whole world ecstatic.” But it has been almost thirty years now. We have touched a few million people, but the world is still far away.

Now I am getting old and I am becoming wiser. Now I am thinking, if we cannot make everybody blissful, at least we must let them die peacefully. At least that much spirituality should happen to them. Those who live blissfully – wonderful. That is what should happen to everyone, but if they are not interested, they must at least die peacefully. So for that – one drop spirituality. They don’t live blissfully; they live somehow, but at least they will die peacefully. At least a human being deserves this much, isn’t it?

All this is just to ensure that every human being has the possibility of touching a dimension beyond the physical. This possibility has to be sown into him. This awareness has to be brought into him because the possibility exists, but between a possibility and reality there is a distance. Unless you create a conducive atmosphere and the necessary focus, most human beings will not make that distance. It is my wish and my blessing that every human being should make that distance.

- Sadhguru

The Power to Create is Within Ourself - These Isha Volunteers demonstrates, while creating space for Sadhguru Sannidhi

Volunteering + Practice = Continuity in Practice

When people initially join the Isha Yoga program for 7 days, the climate is simply euphoric. I have seen number of people crying, with the tears in their eyes, thankful for whatever Isha has offered to them. When I watch them, I feel simply excited. They can feel the loving atmosphere all around. Soon I feel that there will be a large turnout of people in the monthly sathsang.

But what happens next is that, hardly 10% of the people come back to monthly sathsang. What happened. Where did those people go, who were ready to offer themselves with totality during the initial program ?

What I feel is that those people have lost contact with the loving atmosphere, which they experienced during the program. Mostly they were led into an illusion that it was only the strenght of the practice which made them enjoy the atmosphere. I feel that they can be brought back with a little compassionate push from behind. Those people are not aware that how intimate life can be, if one is intensely involved with it. We call it volunteering here in Isha.

I feel that atleast once, when the new isha program is to held, the old volunteers should offer some kind of work to the previous batch participants. If necessary the old volunteers should make way for the new participants. Maybe, The old will need to be innovative, in finding new ways with involvement with life. The old volunteers need to be a guiding force to encourage the new participants to take on the life with enthusiasm.

But for the new participants, certainly, it should not be entrusted on them but gently asked that we need your help and If possible, please involve yourself in volunteering. If the participants experience the joy of volunteering, the joy of being together, the joy of being in the Isha family, then there is no power on earth that can stop them towards liberation and living a fulfilled life.

Volunteering - An ultimate experience

It's really difficult to define volunteering since it carries many values within it. The first and foremost meaning I felt is that I wanted people to know the joy of being with sadhguru. People like Sadhguru are scarce in this world and we have got that job to carry forward the message. Just being with him, I have forgotten my problems and anxiety but now new kind of problems have come in. There is a strong urge within me to work as a full time volunteer but whatever I do falls short of expectation.
Distributing pamplets door-to-door and hanging posters was an extra-ordinary experience. Distributing pamplets was not a simple work but it needed a kind of alertness and intelligence. Many times before approaching anyone, I would check whether he is in a mode of listening. If he is not entangled in any work or if he is calm within himself, then i would approach him and tell him about the program. This way I found many people who were excited to learn about isha yoga. Usually people try to finish off distributing pamplets in a day or 2, feeling they have done the job. But what happens is that in the faster mode of distribution, the pamplets does not reach right kind of people. I succesfully approached a doctor to allow the pamplets to be kept in his clinic. Similarly I approached temples with the positive response.
Hanging posters was an enjoyable experience. There was so much to contemplate before we could decide on which place to hang the posters. Usually we would start off after 9 p.m. Learnt so many things. You will have to find whether large group of people would go through the poster by walk. Is the view clear ? Is it at the junction point ? Have you covered all the area within the 4 km radius of the venue ? How to prepare the posters, so that they can carry a little longer life span than they usually carry ? It s a never ending experience and I am sure that there will always be something new to experience with every volunteering oppurtunity.