Inner Engineering: A Yogi's Guide to Joy Kindle Edition
by Sadhguru (Author)
4.8 out of 5 stars
3,758 ratings
Length: 278 pages Word Wise: Enabled Enhanced Typesetting: Enabled
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Audible book: Available
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NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Thought leader, visionary, philanthropist, mystic, and yogi Sadhguru presents Western readers with a time-tested path to achieving absolute well-being: the classical science of yoga.
NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY SPIRITUALITY & HEALTH
The practice of hatha yoga, as we commonly know it, is but one of eight branches of the body of knowledge that is yoga. In fact, yoga is a sophisticated system of self-empowerment that is capable of harnessing and activating inner energies in such a way that your body and mind function at their optimal capacity. It is a means to create inner situations exactly the way you want them, turning you into the architect of your own joy.
A yogi lives life in this expansive state, and in this transformative book Sadhguru tells the story of his own awakening, from a boy with an unusual affinity for the natural world to a young daredevil who crossed the Indian continent on his motorcycle. He relates the moment of his enlightenment on a mountaintop in southern India, where time stood still and he emerged radically changed. Today, as the founder of Isha, an organization devoted to humanitarian causes, he lights the path for millions. The term guru, he notes, means “dispeller of darkness, someone who opens the door for you. . . .
As a guru, I have no doctrine to teach, no philosophy to impart, no belief to propagate. And that is because the only solution for all the ills that plague humanity is self-transformation. Self-transformation means that nothing of the old remains. It is a dimensional shift in the way you perceive and experience life.” The wisdom distilled in this accessible, profound, and engaging book offers readers time-tested tools that are fresh, alive, and radiantly new. Inner Engineering presents a revolutionary way of thinking about our agency and our humanity and the opportunity to achieve nothing less than a life of joy.
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Praise for Sadhguru and Inner Engineering
“Contrarian and consistent, ancient and contemporary, Inner Engineering is a loving invitation to live our best lives and a profound reassurance of why and how we can.”—Sir Ken Robinson, author of The Element, Finding Your Element, and Out of Our Minds: Learning to Be Creative
“I am inspired by Sadhguru’s capacity for joy, his exuberance for life, and the depth and breadth of his curiosity and knowledge. His book is filled with moments of wonder, awe, and intellectual challenge. I highly recommend it for anyone interested in self-transformation.”—Mark Hyman, M.D., director, Cleveland Clinic Center for Functional Medicine, and New York Times bestselling author
“Inner Engineering is a fascinating read of Sadhguru’s insights and his teachings. If you are ready, it is a tool to help awaken your own inner intelligence, the ultimate and supreme genius that mirrors the wisdom of the cosmos.”—Deepak Chopra
About the Author
Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev
SADHGURU is a yogi, mystic, and visionary who established the Isha Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to the cultivation of human potential. He belongs to no particular tradition, and his scientific methods for self-transformation have universal appeal. Sadhguru has been an in?uential voice at global forums including the United Nations and the World Economic Forum. He is the author of Inner Engineering (Spiegel & Grau, 2016) and makes his residence in India and Tennessee. For more, visit innerengineering.com.
SADHGURU is a yogi, mystic, and visionary who established the Isha Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to the cultivation of human potential. He belongs to no particular tradition, and his scientific methods for self-transformation have universal appeal. Sadhguru has been an in?uential voice at global forums including the United Nations and the World Economic Forum. He is the author of Inner Engineering (Spiegel & Grau, 2016) and makes his residence in India and Tennessee. For more, visit innerengineering.com.
File Size: 5330 KB
Print Length: 278 pages
Publisher: Spiegel & Grau; 1 edition (September 20, 2016)
Publication Date: September 20, 2016
Language: English
Sadhguruk
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Mystic Manifesting
VINE VOICE
5.0 out of 5 stars A book to be studied, not read, to engineer your life
Reviewed in the United States on July 28, 2016
Format: HardcoverVine Customer Review of Free Product( What's this? )
Yesterday I cut two oranges to juice for my morning smoothie. As I was juicing one of them, I heard myself say, "This orange is BAD. It's so dry."
Option 1: "It's so dry I'm getting less than a quarter cup. Instead of needing only two oranges, I'm going to have to juice four. What a ripoff. I'm paying double for oranges. And now I have to go to the store to get more oranges. What if they're bad, too?"
Option 2: "It is what it is: a dry orange. I'll just have to juice four instead of two. Better get another bag of oranges."
Sadhguru writes, "...whatever the events and situations around you, you don't get crushed by them; you ride them." And, "To mold situations the way you want them you must first know who you are. The crux of the matter is that you don't yet know who you are. Who you are is not the sum total of accumulations you have made. Everything that you currently know as 'myself' is just an accumulation. Your body is just an accumulation of food. Your mind is just an accumulation of impressions gathered through the five senses. What you accumulate can be yours, but it can never be you... You are trying to live your life through what you have gathered, not through who you are. What's more, you are not even a hundred percent conscious of what you have gathered!"
That's what this book is about. It's about understanding your true, divine self and that everything that happens to you happens internally. Most people go through life letting external events dictate who they are and how they should feel. They spend most of their time in memories of the past or in imaginal futures, usually of a bad kind.
Instead of eating from the Tree of Life, we eat continually from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and make judgments based on where our experience falls. The dry orange is evil. We also tend to discontinue growth and solidify over time as we acquire beliefs: "Belief is just like morality. People who believe something often think they are superior to others. All that happens the moment you believe something is that your stupidity acquires confidence." This is so true. The more I learn about something, the more I realize how ignorant I am.
"Every thought that arises in the mind has its roots in data you have already accumulated. The data may be gathered consciously or unconsciously...your intellect is perpetually immersed in the past. In such a state, nothing new is now possible. And so, the intellect loses its edge and becomes a trap." And, "The very seat of your experience is within you, but your perception is entirely outward bound."
So what is yoga and how does it help us evolve? I'll let the author answer.
"...the fundamental desire within every human being is for boundless expansion... When their longing finds conscious expression, we call this yoga."
"The science of yoga is, quite simply, the science of being in perfect alignment, in absolute harmony, in complete sync with existence...yoga is the science of creating inner situations exactly the way you want them."
"When you are in yoga, it means that in your experience, everything has become one. This is the essence of the science. This is also its deepest aim."
"Yoga is fundamentally aimed at enhancing your experience beyond the five senses."
"So in yoga, we learn to trust the body. We transform the physical body from a series of compulsions of flesh, blood, and hormones into a conscious process, a powerful instrument of perception and knowing."
"The entire yogic process is aimed at aligning oneself with the natural longing of life to expand in an unlimited way... Yoga means to experience the mental and physical process distinctly, not as the basis of yourself, but as that which is caused by you."
"So the quality of your life is always decided by how you experience life, not by what life offers you."
"The yogic practices, which involve postures, breath, attitudes of mind, and energy activation, are all essentially oriented toward aligning the first three layers of the body: the physical, the mental, and the energetic body. It is only in aligning them that you find access to dimensions beyond the physical--to the fundamental life energy itself."
Two years ago I basically hit rock bottom. Life seemed ridiculous and futile. I knew I had to do something or I would have to leave the planet. I didn't want to be here. So I began studying New Thought writings from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. I spent hours every day studying, meditating, thinking, disciplining my mind. I changed my negative thoughts into positive thoughts. I transformed myself, and I continue because I have a long way to go. I used to look back on my life and think, "What a crappy life I chose." Now I look back and think of all the challenges I have overcome and the many lessons I've learned through this difficult life. I learned to become happy.
Spiritual evolution is a discipline of learning about yourself. It takes time and effort. It is not acquiring a set of beliefs or attaching ourselves to doctrines. As Neville Goddard said, "The true test of religion is in its use, but men have made it a thing to defend."
The first time I read this book I loved it, but I couldn't review it. It was all a jumble. Too much information. Then I read it again, and still, a jumble. How do I review this? Then again, and this time I paid attention to the chapter titles to orient myself, and it took better form in my mind. Inner Engineering is not a book to be read once and set aside. It is a book to be studied, especially for someone new to the path. The keys to the kingdom are in here, but you have to recognize and wade through your own preconceptions, judgments, beliefs, and preferences.
I highly recommend this book. There's far greater treasure in here than first appears. The exercises themselves could take years to practice. And I finally understand the physical practice of yoga and how it can be used to evolve. I will leave you with one more gem that spoke to me:
"Unfortunately, most human beings are doing much the same thing: they are labeling their compulsions, their limitations, as their choices. If you can joyfully do whatever is needed in a given situation, this is freedom. But limiting yourself to doing only what you like is a horribly compulsive way to live." I choose freedom. Time to clean the bathroom. Joyfully.
837 people found this helpful
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Sandeep
4.0 out of 5 stars Well conceived, fluidly written and easy to read, with a few elements which stretch belief
Reviewed in the United States on October 3, 2016
[...]
Sadhguru wants to be a “dispeller of darkness.” He believes that living joyfully is not “magical” but can be done systematically, like an engineering problem. He has written the book in two parts–first he describes the landscape and then he lays out a route on how to get there.
The description of the landscape is from a perspective of personal experience. He describes how he developed as a highly curious and observant person. The first step is to know that you know nothing or very little. That opens the door to really knowing anything. He was not a disciplined student, except towards his yoga routine. He did well in a couple of businesses he started and was feeling quite confident and successful. Then one day when he was twenty five, he was heart broken, and went up on a hill to contemplate. There he was enlightened in an afternoon of reverie and dropped all that was “me and mine.” He saw all boundaries melt away. This experience transformed him physically–even the shape of his eyes, his gait. People started getting cured just by seeing him. He himself felt that he had supernatural powers. He gained many lifetimes of memory and became aware of a “million things.” He decided to go beyond the rational and logical and embrace the “intelligence of life itself.”
He realized that goal of all human endeavor is to liberate itself of boundaries. We all want to be in a state of pleasantness. Pleasantness comes from whatever we lack at that time. If you are hungry, food is what you need, if you are tired, then a comfortable bed is what you need. When we are love lorn, we need our beloved to be with us. But after all these needs are met, we still need to expand ourselves more. Therefore, the ultimate goal is to transcend all boundaries. And this feeling can only come from how we experience the world around us, not only from how comfortable is the physical world. All experience is ultimately inside of us.
Sadhguru wants people to not take refuge in destiny or karma. He wants people to have “responsibility–ability to respond to situations.” Not react compulsively, but to respond consciously. And your ability to respond is limitless. Your ability to act is limited by resources and capability, but not the ability to respond.
And how should one respond? By being in total sync with existence. Align your physical body, your mind and your energies totally to existence and that will lead to liberation and pure joy.
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In the second part of the book, Sadhguru lays out a path to improve the body, mind and our energies. Body is improved by doing the physical asanas, keeping our spine erect, and slowing down our breath.
- Body is nourished by food, which he recommends should be vegetarian or at most fish, no higher animals.
- Sleep and sex are basic needs of the body and should be met so the body is at peace. It creates problems when you deny or moralize basic human drives.
- When it comes to mind, the essential step is realizing the difference between you and what you have accumulated. Sadhguru recommends to learn to keep your intellect in awareness, not in memory.
There is one energy which manifests itself as everything. Kriya is the way to channel energies. But this can only happen when you are initiated by someone. This is where he talks about his Shambhavi Mahamudra which is taught in the Inner Engineering courses.
Overall, the book is an easy read, filled with entertaining anecdotes which begin “Once it happened….” Those of you who have watched him live or seen his YouTube videos know that he has an easy conversational style which is engaging and refreshing. This comes through in the book as well.
While the thoughts and discussion he presents are mostly in line with “Analytical Faith”, there are a few areas where he strains belief. For example, where he describes the power of breath. He says, “Slow it down to nine breaths–we know the language of all creatures, slow it to six you know the language of earth, reduce it to three and you know the language of creation.” He also claims power to heal himself and others. If is through a better understanding of your body and mind, it makes sense, but if it is through some deep kriya beyond the operation of body and mind, then it is “magic” and not engineering.
199 people found this helpful
Top international reviews
Hari Mohan
5.0 out of 5 stars Best Book For Reconstruction. (Read before you buy)Reviewed in India on February 14, 2019
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For me many things were understood.
I'm mentioning just a few here.
The book is in two parts, the first is more of theory about Sadhguru himself, what well-being is, what responsibility is and what it is not, and what yoga is. Through these chapters many concepts are broken down and redefined for me. This part of the book sets the foundation for the second half of the book - the more practical aspect.
In the second half, Sadhguru explains the body, mind, our energy in fair amount of detail, but in a simple and witty manner, I was just flowing with it!
What struck me most was how we as humans have focused so much on our discerning intellect (which divide, categorizes, and dissects), that it's expression is found in the way we as a society discriminate, divide, and dissect almost everything; the most painful one according to me being the division of people into various groups which are then discriminated against.
In this second half, Sadhguru gives us many Sadhanas (or tools or practices) that we can do. Even if we choose one of these and practise in a consistent manner, it will be very beneficial for one's well-being.
Finally, the line which summarizes Sadhguru's message, according to me is this: "Yoga is not about being superhuman; it's about realizing that being human is super". This beautiful sentence encapsulates the message what we as healers do our best to spread among all that we come across.
I highly recommend this book to you all, it is a very good primer to start your journey of going within.
If this make any change in you. Vote "Helpful" & I may come with another reviews.
268 people found this helpful
ARAVIND
4.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful engineering with occult climax...Reviewed in India on November 28, 2018
Verified Purchase
Inner Engineering by Sadhguru...
Sadhguru talks about three important things which controls our thoughts and emotions in life... Those are *Body, *Mind, & *Energy...
*Body : Sadhguru says...
Body is the only thing that is visible and can easily controlled... Every human being has 5 senses i.e., 1) Touch, 2) Sight, 3) hearing, 4) Taste, and 5) Smell... If these 5 senses stops working then it is hard for one to realize actually what and who you are... So, these 5 senses plays a important role in life... and hence one should maintain them very well...
one must gain focus & control over these senses or else it will impact on one's Mind and Energy...
*Mind : Sadhguru says...
(Sadhguru) Shares and very interesting and funny story of A man wants to acquire Supernatural powers from a Spiritual guru... (pl. read the book for the story)
What ever you input to your brain the same output it gives... if you input positive thoughts only positive will be outcome... and vice versa...
*Energy : Sadhguru says...
If one uses energy in right direction it gives benefit and if one uses it in wrong direction one will suffer... Here Sadhguru treated Energy as Karma... and said If one do good to others the same will return to him/her... and vice versa...
The best part of the book is in Sadhana : A small exercise which helps one to do meditation... and there are bunch of sadhanas shared in this book...
My thoughts : If you are a follower of Sadhguru, then you like this book, If you are not, then I don't recommend this book to you... (Now this is totally subjective), Because at the last chapter Sadhguru talks about occult powers which I personally Didn't like, apart from that, this book is OK and pl. don't buy this book with full expectations... you may get disappointed).
I don't recommend this book to every one but only to sadhguru followers... and do recommend following books to read...
* Life's Amazing secrets - Gaur Gopal Das
* The power of Now - Eckhart Tolle
* Think and grow rich - Napoleon Hill
* The power of subconscious mind - Joseph Murphy
* Jonathan Livingston seagull - Richard Bach
159 people found this helpful
D. E. Lingard
5.0 out of 5 stars The Teacher comes when the student is readyReviewed in the United Kingdom on March 29, 2018
I have practiced Hatha Yoga since 1972 and practiced meditation since 2005. During this time I have also ready many books, many of which were a disappointment, and have gradually become aware of the Spiritual Path we are all able to follow. Several months ago I listened to a talk given by Sadhguru to the Oxford Union and was fascinated by his words. This led to my watching and listening to a number of talks and interviews which in turn led me to his book, 'Inner Engineering'.
For me this book tied together a number of loose ends in my knowledge and understanding of being a spiritual person and as my title suggests, it came at the right time. I found the book to be very informative and easy to read and understand. The writers spirituality, knowledge and humour shine throughout this book and I look forward to putting into practice some of the things I have learnt.
40 people found this helpful
Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars One of the finest book which has a power to transform your lifeReviewed in India on February 21, 2018
Verified Purchase
I was already quite impressed with Sadhguru through his Youtube videos so I thought to give it a try. This book will enlighten you on so many aspects that will help you to know life as it is. It will make you think and act upon transforming yourself.
This is the book which you might have to read again and again to understand it more profoundly. This is the book that will stay with you.
83 people found this helpful
Mr M Clark
5.0 out of 5 stars A must read for anyone seeking joy in their lifeReviewed in the United Kingdom on July 15, 2017
Verified Purchase
I bought this book to compliment the online Inner Engineering course I took, which I highly recommend. I cannot praise Sadhguru enough. This man talks complete sense. After taking the course and reading the book I am completely off my anxiety medication and I now see the world in a different and joyous way. As he often says "the only way out is in". I am sure the world would be a better place to live if everyone read this.
48 people found this helpful
