QUESTION: What is the role of god in the spiritual process?
Sadhguru: If you don’t have something to look up to, you could get easily lost, isn’t it? Whatever you consider as god is just the highest of human values. At different times in history, whatever they thought was the highest value, they enshrined all those values in that person up there. If you look up to him, he is all those things.
The need to feel that your hand is held by something up there is a huge psychological need in a human being. About 80 per cent of the world believes in some kind of god. If you take away or banish god from their minds, then you would need a lot of psychiatrists. Normally, a psychiatrist can handle about six to seven clients per day. That means, we would need one billion psychiatrists on this planet to attend to seven billion people.
This is a very simple, inexpensive psychiatry: “God is holding your hand; don’t you worry.” The amount of strength that human beings have experienced through this is immeasurable. People have walked through their life with great confidence, doing wonderful things, or many times, even horrible things. Yes, it does not ensure that only good things happen or only bad things happen; it just gives a certain confidence and puts the mind on a single track.
The idea of inventing a god is to bring devotion in your heart. If you become a true devotee, this is the quickest way. There is no question about that, but devotion is possible only for very simple childlike mind – innocent of thought and questions.
The word “devotion” comes from the word “dissolution.” A devotee has no other agenda. He wants to dissolve into his object of devotion, whatever that is. He wants to become one with it, that is all his intention is. But today, devotion has largely become deception be[1]cause you have your agenda and you want god to do your job. People go to one temple, if the god does not listen to them, they say, “I am going to the next temple.” Because we have 36 million choices, people threaten, “Either you fulfill this for me within this month or else I am leaving.” This is like a divorce notice to god.
This whole thing is actually working for a lot of people. Maybe not as an ultimate possibility, but as an immediate help, it is working. Just imagine, producing one billion psychiatrists on this planet would be a huge waste of human potential. On the other hand, this is a very inexpensive psychiatry happening. Anyway, life is doing whatever it has to do to you, but just that emotion, just that feeling is taking billions of people along every day.
But for those who are not looking for just pretty life, those who want to know the source of life, they can’t fancy themselves with all this, unless they are so childlike and innocent that they can walk without a question or a thought. Right now, your belief system is tattered, it is just a trap. It neither releases you nor does it establish you. Sometimes it seems to work, sometimes there is doubt, there are questions… devotion has become a deception.
The very idea that god should take instructions from you is not devotion, it is utter egoistic nonsense. When everybody stops their prayers and nonsense, then they are devotees. If they just cry with great longing, they are devotees. Right now, they are instructing god on a daily basis on how to run the world. This is not devotion; just deception.
So, what is the role of god in your spiritual process? If you are so simple of mind that today if I say something, you will not look at the flip side of it, then you must walk the path of devotion. Whatever I say, if you are looking at the flip side of this – what about this, what about that, then don’t waste your time on devotion. You will just waste your life thinking you are devout.
Ranked among the 50 most influential people in India, Sadhguru is a yogi, mystic, visionary and bestselling author. He was honoured with the Padma Vibhushan, India’s highest civilian award, in 2017, for exceptional and distinguished service.
