By Sadhguru – Founder, Isha Foundation

1. How do you define meditation?

Sadhguru: The main aspect of meditation is, right now your mind is the boss and you are the slave. As you become more meditative, you become the boss and your mind becomes the slave.

2. Could you tell us a bit about the meditation techniques developed by the Isha Ashram?

Sadhguru: Our basic programme is Inner Engineering. As there is a technology to create external well-being, there is a whole dimension of science and technology to create inner well-being. The highest level of technology on the planet is human system itself. My work is to help people to use this technology to its fullest. If they use this to the fullest, they will live a glorious life.

3. Your group meditation programmes attract huge crowds. Do the energy levels vary when meditation is done in a group?

[We were unable to exactly answer the question. May need to add something about “energy levels”]

Sadhguru: Though the Inner Engineering programme is handled in large groups, you will see it is very individual. I adjust a very intricate process to each particular individual there and make things happen.

4. What kind of a meditation would you suggest for someone from a metro city who leads a stressful life?

Sadhguru: We can give you a simple, 12-minute meditation called Isha Kriya. It’s available online and as an app. We also have something called Upa-Yoga online and as an app called “Yoga Tools.” Upa-Yoga is something that gives you physical and psychological benefits but doesn’t touch the spiritual dimension.

Yoga itself is not an exercise form. It is a technology through which a dimension beyond the physical becomes a living reality within you. If something has the power to transform, it has the power to cause damage if mishandled. So yoga needs to be handled in an extremely committed atmosphere. But Upa-Yoga does not demand that level of commitment. This can be learnt in five minutes. You can practice it anywhere and the benefits are quite immense — you will be physically better and mentally limbered up. Plus, you don’t need any equipment.

5. How often can one meditate?

Sadhguru: Meditation is a certain quality, not a certain act. Meditation is not something that you can do. But you can become meditative. If you cultivate your body, mind, energies and emotions to a certain level of maturity, meditation naturally happens. It is just like if you keep the soil fertile, if you give it the necessary manure and water and if the right kind of seed is there, it will grow and bloom into flowers and fruits.

6. Does meditation really make one happier and healthier?

Sadhguru: The essence of yoga and meditation is to bring a clear space between you and your body and mind. Once there is a distinct separation, this is the end of suffering, because there are only two kinds of suffering you have known — physical and mental. You will dare to explore the full scope of what it means to be human only when there is no fear of suffering.

7. When did you start doing meditation? How has it transformed your life?

[We couldn’t find anything about how meditation specifically transformed your life, so we used the part about yoga]

Sadhguru: When I learnt yoga at around 11 years of age, I just wanted to be physically competent — I didn’t care about liberation or the Ultimate. But I never imagined there was another dimension packed into it. When that exploded within me, it changed the fundamentals of who I am in such a big way. That old person just vanished and something totally new blossomed within me.

[Sadhguru, a yogi, is a visionary, humanitarian and a prominent spiritual leader. An author, poet and internationally-renowned speaker, Sadhguru’s wit and piercing logic provoke and widen our perception of life. www.ishafoundation.org]