Are superstitions real?

SADHGURU: MOST HAVE A SCIENTIFIC BASIS BUT HAVE BEEN DISTORTED OVER TIME

A LOT of people always look for lucky stars, lucky planets, lucky numbers – all kinds of stuff. In this process of looking and waiting for things to happen, things they could have easily created for themselves are completely lost.

With every aspect of life, it is you who has to make it happen. Your peace and your turmoil are your business. Your joy and misery are your business. The devil and the god within you are your business. When you live by chance, you also live in fear and anxiety. When you live by intent and capability, it does not matter what is happening or not; at least you are in control of what is happening to you. It is a more stable life.

A few years ago, a lady I knew was preparing for an important business meeting. In Tamil Nadu, many people believe that when you start your car in the morning, you should not start in reverse gear. Otherwise your whole life will go into reverse gear. So, in the morning they always move it a little forward. So, she wanted to move the car forward before reversing out of the house. In all her anxiety and fear, while trying to move it a few inches forward, she jerked the clutch and drove the car straight through the wall into the bedroom.

Instead of creating the necessary inner and external atmosphere around us where the right kind of situation can happen, we always look for something else which could make that happen. How you experienced today within yourself is definitely in your hands. It is not decided by what superstitions you believe in. It simply depends on how sensibly, intelligently, and with how much awareness you walk and look at life around you.

So, is there no truth in any of this? Not necessarily. Most of them have some scientific basis, but they have been badly distorted over time. From generation to generation, the science has lost its shape and

become something else. Moreover, today, because of political and other kinds of dominance, we have come to the conclusion that if something comes from the West it is science, if it comes from the East, it is superstition.

For example, in the past few years, a phenomenal amount of research has gone into water. Some say water has memory; that it “remembers” whatever it comes in touch with. If I take a glass of water in my hand, look at it in a certain way and give it to you, wellbeing will come to you. If I look at it another way and give it to you, you will fall sick. Our grandmothers always told us we must receive food and water only from people who love and care for us. When your grandmother told you this, it was superstition. If you hear about it from scientists in the US, you take it seriously. This is a kind of slavery.

Many of the things we have always said in this culture are being discovered today after billion-dollar research studies as “great” discoveries about human nature. We have always known these things because this is not a culture which evolved out of compulsions of living. This is a culture which was evolved consciously by sages and saints. There is immense scientific value in it. Everything – from how you should sit, stand, and eat – was designed according to what is best for human wellbeing. Unfortunately, the spiritual culture we see today has in many ways been broken by invasions and distorted by long spells of poverty. Still, the basic ethos of the spiritual process is not destroyed, nor can it be destroyed. It is time we reap the benefits of this profound tradition in its full glory.

■ 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.