The Resilient Mind - The Moment Sadhguru Faced Death — and What It Taught Him About Life

Episode Date: October 17, 2025

Sadhguru is the founder of the Isha Foundation located in Coimbatore, India. The foundation operates an ashram and yoga center that specializes in education and spiritual practices. An accomplished yoga teacher since 1982, Sadhguru is also the author of several New York Times bestsellers, such as Inner Engineering: A Yogi's Guide to Joy and Karma: A Yogi's Guide to Crafting Your Destiny. He is also a frequent speaker at international events and forums.Take action and strengthen your mind with The Resilient Mind Journal. Get your free digital copy today: ⁠⁠⁠⁠Download Now⁠⁠This episode is brought to you in partnership with Sadhguru. Follow their YouTube channel by visiting: https://www.youtube.com/@sadhguru/featured🌍 The Resilient Mind Podcast is a proud member of 1% for the Planet — building resilient minds and a resilient planet. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to the Resilient Mind podcast. In this episode, you will be listening to the moment Sad Guru faced death and what it taught him about life. Get access to the Resilient Mind Journal by clicking the link in the show notes. Enjoy. See, when you say a good life, different people have different ideas. But someone, good life is a certain kind of home, certain kind of family, certain kind of automobile, all right? It's very important. So, essentially, why we are gathering all these things, or for somebody else, it may be a religious practice or their aspirations to go to heaven or whatever.

Essentially, a human being is looking for pleasantness of experience. Yes. We might have talked about this earlier, but let me touch upon that. Yes. See, if you become pleasant in your body, we call this health. You want it? So, pleasantness of the body is called health. If it becomes very pleasant, we call it pleasure.

Yes? Pleasiveness of the mind is called peace. If it becomes very pleasant, we call it joy. Pleasiveness of emotion is called love. If it becomes very pleasant, we call it compassion. If your very life energies become pleasant, we call this bliss. If it becomes very pleasant, we call it ecstasy. If your surroundings become pleasant, we call it success.

Only to create pleasantness of our surroundings, we need the cooperation of everybody and many, many forces around us. It is a talent. You have to harness all these things to create pleasantness in the surroundings. But pleasantness of the body, pleasantness of the mind, emotion and energy is 100% your business. That business of being pleasant is forgotten by a vast majority of human beings because they have forgotten that they're mortal. If they, when I say mortal or mortality, what it means is you are on a limited lease of time and energy. Time is a ruthless roll.

It's rolling for all of us at the same pace. You're happy, it rolls. You're unhappy, it rolls. You're successful, it rolls. You're a failure. It rolls. You're awake, you're asleep, it rolls. Do whatever you want.

It rolls. You don't have breaks on it. Nor do we have a rewind set on it. It's just ruthlessly rolling away. As we sit here, in the last five minutes, both of us are closer to our graves by five minutes. This is the nature of life.

If you're conscious that I am mortal every moment, then you will see how to make the best out of everything. Above all, you will have no time to do things that you don't care for. Yes. If you are doing genuinely what you truly care for, and I am also doing genuinely what I truly care for, you will see your life will be beautiful, my life will be beautiful, the world will be beautiful.

Right now, too many people are doing what they don't care a damn about. Because you're doing something. I have to do something against that or for that. Either I have to follow you, follow you, or I have to beat you. This nonsense has led people away. Because why people are not aware of their mortality is? See, this whole development of your brain and your intellect is a very recent happening. Maybe 100,000 or, I don't know, maybe a quarter million years, probably.

I don't know the exact time. Sure. But it's more recent. So, we've still not gotten used to our intelligence. Right now, you can say many things, but essentially what human beings are suffering is, their own intelligence has turned against them. That's all. You can call it stress, anxiety, depression, this, that.

I was talking to some top psychiatrists in UK, and they said there are 72 varieties of mental ailments. I was surprised. I thought maybe half a dozen. 72, I asked, what are the 72? They went on giving me the list, one thing stuck in my mind. It seems compulsive nose-picking is one of them. They start bleeding in the nose, but they can't stop. Okay.

So right now, what is torturing a human being is their own intelligence. If you had the brain of an earthworm, you would be quite peaceful, and you would be eco-friendly also which the California people are trying very hard. So this whole problem is this transition from being an ape to human being happened rather too quickly. In terms of DNA manifestation, according to the DNA scientists, the difference between you and a chimpanzee is only 1.23 percent. 1.2 3 percent is not much, isn't it?

So, physiologically, that's how close you are to a chimpanzee. But in terms of intelligence and awareness, your world's apart. So you have an intelligence for which you don't have a stable enough base of physiological and chemical base, you're like fluctuating. If you don't stabilize that, your intelligence will turn against you. And that's all you're seeing. And in this intelligence turning against you, one of the most important factors is that we have forgotten we are mortal. Our societies, in India it's very common right from childhood, we take them to cremation grounds to see that people die. Everybody should know that you die one day.

Here we mask it. Even when the man is dead, dead, he is dressed in a suit and tie. It looks like he's going somewhere, he's going to a party. And actually, a lot of people are describing, he's going to your party, all his friends and relatives are waiting there. He's going to have a big party. If there's such a big party, why are you not going? I'm asking. If there is such a party, you must go first.

Why are you telling me to go? Right, right. So, fairy tales and fairy tales has made people build castles in the air, which are not true. And they may sustain you to an ordinary day. If it's a moment of death, it freaks the hell out of you. See, we don't hide death. Slowly we are getting into urban cities, are getting into Western ways, all right? Otherwise, we cremate people.

And it's a thing where the whole family goes. And sees it. See, he said. The watch is it. Yes, yes, sir. Wow. Watches it. If you want to go on a spiritual path, the first thing is you must go and sit in the cremation

grounds and watch. Because you become spiritual, not because you think of God. You become spiritual when you realize you're mortal. When you realize one day you're going to end, naturally you want to know, what is beyond, where did I come from, where will I go, what is the nature of my life? It's a natural question in human intelligence. If you mask it as if it's never going to happen, then you, that question never arises within you.

This is a great disservice we have done to humanity by telling them fairy tales and masking the whole process of death. It's a reality. When I say death, I'm not talking about it as an event that happens once in, at the end of your life. It is happening right now. You're in tango. Life and death are in tango.

I can say I'm living. I can also say I'm dying. It's the same thing. Because there is some negative connotation to the word death, if you say you're dying, it's supposed to be something wrong. No, no, we're all dying kind. All dying kind. We're all dying kind.

I must tell you this. You know, as a part of because I felt that post-death, the way the services had become in many cities and towns in India, we set up a lot of crematoriums as a service, volunteer service. volunteer service, it's free of cost for people who can't afford and everything. So this, I named it with a Sanskrit word called Kayantastanam. It means a place where the body ends. So our volunteers came up and said, Sad Guru, this is a Sanskrit name. Not everybody can understand, can you give an English byline?

I said, okay, Kayantastanam, everybody is a customer. That's true. Everybody is. It's true. They said, no, no, no, said, Guru, this is too much up in the face, say something else. I said, okay, Kayantastanam, we shall wait. We shall wait. You will come.

Maybe I'll go before you, but you will come anyway. We must know this every moment of our life, that the way we are right now is not a permanent fixture. You are not a permanent fixture on this planet. Countless number of people before you and me have come and gone. They also thought they're very smart. I don't know whether they were podcasters or not. But I'm sure they were something great in their own nonsense.

All right. Sure. Everybody thought they were great. There were kings and emperors and all. Where are they? All top soil. And that's how it should be. That's how it should be.

If you or me are a permanent fixture on this planet, it's unbearable. At least the world needs respite from us. I mean, you went through, was it two brain surgeries last year? I banged up my head a bit. When you had those brain surgeries or when you went into those, were you afraid of death or were you afraid what might happen next? You can see that it's all recorded. So I started having excruciating pain in my head

in the month of end of the end. of January, 2024. And, but I had full engagements, so I went on. I don't take painkillers. Yeah. Because I want to know what's happening. Yeah, me too. If I take painkiller, then I don't know what's happening.

I may be causing damage and I will not know. Yes. It became excruciating where, like, one side is like almost paralyzed with pain. Really? Yeah, but I kept on with all the activity, a lot of travel inside the country. Then on March 10th, I think 8th, March 8th is the Mahashvratri, full night festival. Before that, I've been traveling up and down the country. It's a full night celebration.

I'm in lots of pain. You look at the videos. You must play that video to your people. I'm whole night, I'm dancing, meditating, talking, everything. Nobody realized anything is wrong, except one or two people around me. They knew I am in pain. So I was just putting him cold patches just to calm the ice a little bit because it was like throbbing in the sun. Yes, like electric.

It's the worst. It was going on. Then 10th I did, and 16th I'm supposed to travel to the United States, 16th of March. And then I had some travel to Chennai and Mumbai, and then I came to Delhi. 14th I had an event. The doctor looked at me and said, Sadd Guru, you can't do this. event. You should not. You must immediately come to the hospital. I said it's a private event I've accepted. It's nothing much. It's somebody very important, but small group, I'll handle them.

So he said, okay. Next day I had a media event. The India today, uh, television has an event. It's a 45 minute conversation with one of the journalists. The doctor said, you cannot do it. I'm putting my foot down, you just can't do it. So I try to tell them, the India today people, you know, I have a family emergency, I need to go. This is, Sad Guru, tickets are sold, everybody's come only for you. How can you do this? Till now, I have not cancelled a single event in my life. No matter what's happening with me, I do it. So I told the doctor, see, they are saying this, I can't back out of this. He said, I will talk to them. You can't go. He said. I said, please don't do this.

I'll just gently do it. It's nothing. I'm just, as I'm talking to you, I'll talk there. He came for the event. And I'm talking and 45 minutes are over supposed to stop. The journalist wants to ask, he wants to get the best out of me. One more question, one more question. By then, my left leg is oscillating by itself.

It's just doing this. The previous day that's did an MRI. scan and they found out my brain median had moved 8.4 millimeters. Doctor said, Sat Guru, 12 is fatal. I said, I won't go there. I'll just finish this and come. Once the leg started shaking, I knew I've crossed lines. I could just be paralyzed any time.

A stroke can happen. Anything can happen. Then I just stepped off the stage. The doctor was looking at me like this. I said, I have crossed all lines. do what you want. Wow. He took me straight to the surgery table.

When they did the scan, I was 11.5 m.m. of the median. Point five millimeters of fatality. They immediately took me to a surgeon. They cut a big window open and they did whatever. And they're putting me on an aesthetic. All these young women who were all nurses from, you know, in Delhi, These women come from variety of backgrounds from all over the country. They all know me, they follow me, but they never got to see me.

Here they got me down on the table. And eight of them are looking at me like this with big grins on their face. Probably only one or two are needed, but they all want to be there. Then I said, see, when I come out of anesthetic, don't smile like this. I may think I'm on the other side. They all burst out laughing. That's correct.

By then it was working and I just knocked, conked out. It just, within minutes, it just knocks you out, you know. Then the surgery went well and, you know, surgeries are surgeries. I recovered. Very unstable, couldn't walk straight. My balance was gone. But I kept everybody up, their spirits up, because otherwise everybody's in this thing.

Even the prime minister called to Custace. check how I am all over the country, big news and some people cursing me, some people saying this, all kinds of things. Then I recovered. Doctor said six months no driving and two years no motorcycle. So three weeks I was in Delhi, about 15 days, 16, 17 days I was in Delhi. Then I landed in Quimbatore and I drove. to the center about the car yeah for every minute their thing was if you drive and if there's a jerk

something happens i said see if i'm driving at least i know when it'll jerk yes if somebody else is driving i don't know when they'll jerk that car your head like this yes so they said no jerks no shakes no fall i said i'll take care of that still the wound was open and all that stuff but i went back and whatever, people were very happy, emotional, because they all got terrified that I'm come to an end. I recovered from that, and 21 days after that, I had fixed a program in Bali and Cambodia. It's a very niche group of people that registered from all over the country, particularly Chinese and Russians who can't come to India right now for whatever geopolitical reasons.

They are all registered and doctor said, no way, you're traveling. I said, see, I'll travel private so that, no, you could knock your head. This can happen, that can happen. I said, I'll take care of that. My daughter said, she'll travel with me. And they said, we'll take care. And also there was a whole team taking care of me. So I went to Bali to do the program.

There were lots of physical activity. I cut out all that. Just the class part of it. Teaching alone, I'll handle other things. other people to handle. So it went very well, four days, and then we're supposed to go to Cambodia next day. By then I'm putting a plastic wrap on my wound and swimming a little bit because I need it, I need it exercise, you know. That's the best thing to do is to be out in the sun and to do something. So me and my daughter were swimming in the pool. After that, I just came up and sat on a chair,

she was sitting on the floor, a big monkey came. The doors of the room, the sitting room, was open, glass doors all. I came through another door, a glass door also. And when I came, I left the door open and came. And this big door was open. The monkey came and wanting to go inside, because there are lots of fruits, you know, and Bali, lots of heaps of fruits. So, monkey is going in. So my daughter instinctively, she screamed at the monkey. monkey. And the monkey turned around and came with his mouth open like this. At her or you? At her. Wow. I have seen monkey bite injuries. They'll rip off your cheeks like that. I've seen one person, this is half the face gone. Oh, man. And it's coming towards her. So instinctively I got up. I had

my walking stick just inside the thing. So I ran for the stick. Somebody had closed the door. I went and banged full speed into the glass. No. Oh. The glass made such a big bang. The monkey ran away. So, the purpose was served, but my head was cracked. Oh, my God.

So I thought immediately I'll fly to Delhi for another emergency surgery because they had said, if you hit your head, this is it. Then I thought I'll wait till that night and see if there any symptoms. Immediately imbalance will happen. pain will happen, all that. Nothing happened. Next day morning I woke up, I was fine. I said, okay, I'll fly to Cambodia. Three more days, I'll finish this.

In any, any signs means I'll go back. Done, yeah, yeah. But I went through next three days of program I went through. Then I flew into Coimetry City, which is a southern Indian city. From the airport, I went straight to the scan. Once again, bleeding. Internal bleeding. Yeah.

Not outside, only inside. Then I went for another surgery. That or surgery also went okay, no problem. But on the third day after the surgery, I'm forgetting the name of that, some kind of psychotine, psychotine or psychotine, whatever kind of storm. Every cell in the body went through a storm. This happens only if you have sepsis or some other kind of serious infection.

I had no infection of any kind. So, doctors could not make out what happened. So I know I'm kind of seeping away within myself. Really? Yeah. Not with anesthesia. Not with anesthesia. No, no, no, three days later.

And I opened my eyes and see, 14 doctors are standing there, including the chairperson of the hospital, all tears in their eyes. They think they lost me. Because all organ failure started happening. Wow. I looked at them and then looking at their faces, I knew they're kind of sort of giving up on me. When I closed my eyes, I could see in every cell in the body, like I'm seeping away like that. Like you felt it. Yeah, like beautiful, just like that.

You know, like suppose in the middle of the night you woke up and, you know, much more. Like, let's say, 10, 20 times more than that, every cell in the body. just letting something go, that kind of feeling. So I closed my eyes and I became a lot more conscious. And I kept myself like that. And in about an hour and a half, I turned around. So when I came out of that, six hours, they were in very difficult situation with me. About an hour and a half, they thought they lost me completely.

So that took some time to recover. But within two months, I was on the motorcycle. Crazy man. With Vendens, I'm writing because I just wanted to see if I'm really there or not. So I'm fine. So I keep joking. They removed half my brain and I'm doing great now. You're doing better.

Yeah, yeah. Did you have any fear during that time about... No. I am always living like this, that if it comes now, I'm ready. I won't turn back and look. But a lot of people don't have that. they'd be afraid to die right now in their life because maybe they haven't fulfilled. They'll be afraid even if they reach 100.

That's true. They'll still be in the same condition. But more of like sad that they didn't live a purposeful life, that they wanted, the life they wanted to live, right? Purposeful doesn't happen because of time. Purposeful happens because of intent and awareness. The thing is, say, over 80% of the people, if you observe them during their, their last moments of death, they're not in pain, they are not in fear, they just bewildered. Because they misunderstood their psychological drama as life process.

What's happening in your mind is your psychological drama, your thought and emotion. But you think that is life. It's made up by you. It's not really life. Life is not made up by you. It's not made by you. It's happening. That's why you do your drama.

Life you did not create, isn't it? You created this life? No. The situations. Yes. Life is not situations. You're misunderstanding the arrangements of life, accessories of life as life. Is this clothing?

Me? No. Is his chair you? No. Is his body you? It's a part of me. You accumulated it all. a period of time, isn't it?

The cells have accumulated, sure. No, no, it's a food that you've eaten. It's just soil. Will you get it now or one day you'll get it from the maggots? That'd be decomposed one day. No, no, that's not the point. When the maggots get you, they clearly tell you your topsoil. Yes.

But if you know that right now, you live differently. Yes. Everybody gets it from the maggots. Few get it now. when they get it now, life changes. That what you call as my body is a piece of the planet that you accumulated. Magnanimity of creation. That you can take soil, make it food, and make it into this body, and how wonderful it is,

how many things it can do. So, if you forget that, that you gather this, and whatever is on your mind, all impressions, gathered, or did you come with it? Gathered it? Gathered. What you gather can be yours, can never be you, isn't it? Mm-hmm. So now the problem is this.

People have never experienced life most of the time. So when the moment of death comes, they just bewildered. They didn't even start and it's ending. Better start, I'm saying. Thank you for tuning in. Continue strengthening your mind by listening to our other episodes.