Who is Jaggi Vasudev (Sadguru)
Jaggi Vasudev profoundly known as Sadhguru is a popular visionary, humanitarian and spiritual leader in India.
His life is strongly rooted in mundane and pragmatic life experiences. With self-realization, he became the spiritual Sadhguru unlike any other.
He is widely known for his sense of humor and his ability to connect ancient principles with the modern scenario.
He established the Isha Foundation with an aim to educate people about spirituality in the modern-day.
He has traveled around the world and has given a speech at few places from Davos to United Nations.
He emphasizes personal transformation, clean living, and social awareness and leads to spiritual life.
Early life of Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev
Jaggi Vasudeva was born in Mysore on September 3, 1957. As a child, Jaggi was a rebel and liked a challenge.
He would get bored easily in classes and play pranks. When sent to the authorities, he stood fearless.
He would leave school and wander the country on his own engrossed in nature.
He gained an interest in Hatha yoga as he witnessed the dexterity of a 70-year-old yogi.
He took up the job of a snake catcher. As he was fearless, he used to catch snakes with his bare hands.
He is close to snakes and the snake world. He engaged in politics as a teenager with high concern for social justice.
Later he was disenchanted by the level of hatred and hypocrisy in the political environment.
After school, he graduated in English Literature from Mysore University. He set up poultry from scratch and worked all day to attain financial success.
He then started a construction company.
He would go on bike rides at alarming speed to his favorite spot, the Chamundi hills.
Self-realization by Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev
At 25 he had a successful worldly life but everything changed after that. On 23 September 1982, he went on his usual ride to the Chamundi hills.
He always felt drawn to the hills.
When he was starting on the rock, he went into a meditative state without much effort.
He told the experience in the following words “Suddenly, I didn’t understand which I was and which not I was.
The air that I breathed, the rock on which I sat, the atmosphere around me, everything was me, And here I’m sitting tears are flowing to the point where my shirt is wet, and I’m ecstatically crazy! But, here I am, drenched with a completely new kind of blissfulness.”
Later he said that it is difficult to explain the enlightenment experience. The experience changed his life completely.
He said that he went to the mountain as a motorcyclist and came back as a mystic.
He then retired from his construction company and went into meditation and experienced the bliss of the inner self.
People began treating him as a spiritual being. A lot of people came to him seeking advice and future visions.
A year after self-realization he began teaching yoga drawing the attention of a lot of people.
His small yoga practices grew to become a yoga organization. He then married Vijji and had a daughter named Radhe who is a yoga instructor.
He established the Isha foundation amidst Velliangiri hills in 1992.
The foundation teaches yoga and an integral way of life. The integral approach combines hatha yoga, meditation, selfless service, and community-minded living.
He eventually evolved to be a spiritual Guru as his followers increased. At this stage, he was called Sadhguru by his followers.
His ashram developed rules and regulations like any other ashram. He instigated people to follow the path of Celibacy (Brahmacharya).
In 1997, Sadhguru’s wife Vijji attained Mahasamadhi. Sadhguru was proud of her spiritual achievement but he was accused of killing her by Vijji’s father.
Investigations proved the allegations baseless. The same year, the foundation was attacked by hostile people and a lot of accusations were made against the activities that took place in the ashram.
The problems were subdued with the growth of the ashram.
The Dhyanalinga was established in the year 23 June 1999. Sadhguru tells that people who meditate around the Dhyana linga can have a touch of their deeper spirituality. All people need to experience this is an open heart and not any belief system.
He then traveled the world and became the guest of a lot of TV shows, forums, and student bodies.
He answered a question from the audience. He has also been a part of heated arguments.
In 2017, he designed and constructed a large Adiyogi statue and was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The statue depicted that Lord Shiva is the world’s first Guru. The Adi yogi was established to invite more people into the yogic practice and spiritual life.
Bottom line
His teachings and life has inspired a lot of people to enter the spiritual world and live a simple life. His yoga practices are said to have made people a better version of themselves.
Exploring the insights of Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev sheds light on the transformative power of empathy and understanding, reinforcing the idea that ‘Love Makes a World of Difference.