“Yoga is a Technology Towards Ecstasy”

AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH THE ONE AND ONLY SADHGURU, FOUNDER, ISHA FOUNDATION

- NAMITA GUPTA

Ranked amongst the 50 most influential people in India, Sadhguru is a Yogi, mystic, visionary and a New York Times bestselling author. Sadhguru has been conferred the Padma Vibhushan by the Government of India in 2017, the highest annual civilian award, accorded for exceptional and distinguished service. He is also the founder of the world’s largest people’s movement, Conscious Planet – Save Soil, which has touched over 3.9 billion people.

1. What is the ethos of Isha foundation?

Sadhguru: Isha Foundation is essentially a volunteer organisation, supported by 16 million volunteers. The purpose is essentially to transmit technologies for inner wellbeing, which in turn, will pay offin terms of how a human being functions in the world. We are doing spiritual programs in many different levels, with 70% of our work in rural India. We are also focusing on empowering and bringing about an inner transformation in the leadership – people who are holding responsible and powerful positions in the world. We are very much concerned as to how they are because what kind of leaders we have will determine how the world runs.

2. Tell us about Save Soil Movement?

Sadhguru: Soil degradation is a global phenomenon. Half of the world’s topsoil has been lost. In normal agricultural soil, the minimum organic content should be between 3–6%, but in large parts of the world, it is well below 1%. The average soil organic content is 1.48% in northern Europe, 1.2% in southern Europe, 0.3% in Africa, 1.3% in the United States and 0.68% in India. What this means is that most agricultural soil on the planet is inching towards desertification.