A Yogi's Guide To Joy

I recently finished reading Inner Engineering by Sadhguru.

*POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT* Rating: 2/5 stars "Thought leader, visionary, philanthropist, mystic, and yogi Sadhguru presents Western readers with the inner engineering of joy." This is my first real exposure to the phenomenon called Sadhguru. I had only briefly heard of him and thought of him as someone in the vein of Osho or Sri Sri Ravi Shankar... of whom I do not know much in the first place, I admit. My perception about all these folks was that they share life philosophies without any religious propaganda and provide a mass therapy of sorts by identifying the common denominators of people seeking something more beyond what day-to-day life has to offer. I would love to have an analysis of the demographic that follows the teachings of Sadhguru. Is it people who have the lower levels of Maslow's Pyramid sorted and are looking for a way to achieve self-actualization? Is it largely people who have been helped by Isha Foundation with basic things like hygiene and food who end up being followers of Sadhguru? That is a different discussion, I suppose

The structure of the book is clarified at the outset - first half is a bit autobiographical and the second half is supposed to provide practical exercises for the exercise of "self-discovery"(?). Note that self-discovery isn't really the purported goal of the book. It is a lot more nuanced. Perhaps that translates to ambiguous for the skeptic.

On that, do not assume that I am a skeptic because of the rating. I get a feeling it is kind of hard to review this book. A poor rating must mean I either "just don't get it" or am "not ready to absorb the wisdom". The very divisiveness that Sadhguru condemns in the book comes far too naturally to us. People are either "believers" or "skeptics". Rationalists or superstitious. And that divisiveness can be anything from condescending to outright hostile.

The first half of the book is something that is more philosophical in its outlook. And it's hard to argue with the philosophies. It reminds one of some very basic concepts of living that is very easy to lose sight of and even at the risk of being forgotten all over again, this section is important. That said, I am sure that there is nothing new that the book says here. It simply resonates so strongly because whatever it says is so damn universal. A spiritual Guru can say it and make us meditative. A comic can say the same thing and make us laugh.

It's the second section - it begins with the focus on breathing, becoming aware of your own physical body, etc. And you realize how hard that is when you try. The exercise of slowing down and experiencing yourself can be profound. And this is the biggest takeaway from the book for me.

But from then on, the book becomes bizarre. There is random science to prove certain points. And a whole lot of mysticism apparently drawn from established yogic "sciences". The outlandishness of mysticism keeps increasing as we go along the second half - from feeling the whole universe in ourselves to consecration energies to outright black magic. There is a Yogic Kriya which supposedly helps people unlock the energies talked about in the book. But the book itself doesn't tell about these Kriyas because you need someone to teach you those in person. All that did for me was make the book feel like those click-bait articles on flattening the tummy which talks about the wrong way to lose fat, and why exercise and diet is important and at the end throw a link asking to pay 2000 Dollars to get a customized plan to beat belly fat.

I can completely imagine a very scathing review that parodies several points written in the book. I could easily come up with one myself. But that would have helped no one and served no purpose. It wouldn't have given me any literary satisfaction. It would also be very demeaning to all the good work that Sadhguru's foundation does and all the people that it has helped. So I will let the point-by-point criticisms be. Well, except for these two criticisms:

I do wish Sadhguru and the other yogi's would stop parading mysticism as science - Because by definition science is empirical. When you use a statement like there is no physical manifestation of Nadis or Chakras - it cannot be "science". Call it what you want, but don't call it science. Because it feels that the only reason you claim it to be science is to legitimize it. I am sure Sadhguru feels no need for validation from the scientific community.

Second, the book does claim to not devolve into mysticism but ends up doing just that. The talk about Ling as a symbol for start and beginning, opening of chakras, and using energies negatively to negatively influence people, etc. is extremely alienating to the most open-minded rationalist.

So, in the end, this book comes across as a series of unstructured homilies, and nothing more. The practical aspect of the book is pure lip service. I do wish it had drawn me enough to seek a guru at his ashram to practice the Kriyas the book talks about - but as it stands, I will just keep looking for a more evolved way of living by myself. Check out Inner Engineering, and decide if this book takes you on the journey for inner joy.

Happy Reading :)