Shares

In the second of two parts, Sadhguru looks at how karma is

the maya of many, and how kriyas and pranayams are a
process to strengthen the etheric body, and distance
ourselves from karma.

Sadhguru:Karma is essentially the maya of many. Maya is

usually translated as illusion though that word doesnt convey
everything. But lets say maya means illusion. The illusion of the
many is the foundation of karmic substance. As long as you are
established in, This is me, that is you, karma is a wellestablished reality. It is like a solid, real, steel structure.
However, if you confuse yourself, Which is me and which is not
me? suddenly karma loses its foundation. If you look around and
you dont know which is you and which is not you, in this mix up
the karmic foundation cannot stand anymore and just crumbles.
In one moment of confusion, suddenly, whole structures of karma
just collapse. Have you noticed, if you ever fell in love with
someone, your likes and dislikes, who you are, what you like,
what you dont like, everything got mixed up a little bit at least
for a few days, after which it might have come back to you again!
You started doing what you thought you cannot do because who
you are was a little confused. The maya of the many was confused
because a little bit of oneness came between two people, and
suddenly the karma lost its foundation and crumbled.

The Problem of Many

It happened like this during 1944, eight Hitler doubles were
kept in a safe house. Of all the people, these were the best fed,
best kept people and they didnt have to do anything except once
in a while. They were trained to be like Hitler. They dressed like
him, they ate like him they had to do whatever he did because
when they had to play the act, they had to do it in such a way that
nobody would know. So, these guys were really having a good
time.
Then Heinrich Himmler, one of Hitlers trusted aides came. It was
part of the routine that whenever anyone came, they had to salute
the doubles just the way they would salute Hitler because they
had to get used to it. So, Himmler came and said Hail Hitler!
Then he said, I have good news and bad news.
All of them said together, Good news rst.
Our Fuhrer is alive and well.
Bad news?
Unfortunately, he lost his left eye, and he pulled out a cork
screw.
Karma is like that. It is the problem of the many. So, the rst
thing is to stop creating life works itself out. Or if you want to

drop all your karma at once, that can also be done. But you need
to understand, karma is not only a bondage, it is also a protection.
It is a cement that binds you with the body. If all karma is
dissolved, you will not be able to hold on to your body you will
drop it. If you are not aware of this, for most beings, the moment
of enlightenment and the moment of leaving the body are the
same. Only those who are on the path of kriya, who know the
mechanics and the nuts and bolts of the body hold on to it.

Exercising the Etheric Body

In yoga, we look at a human being as ve sheaths or layers of
body. Three the physical, the mental and the energy body are
physical realities; maybe subtle but still physical. The other two
the etheric body and the bliss body are in a dierent realm. The
etheric body is a transition from physical to non-physical. The
bliss body is purely non-physical. The physical body, the mental
body and the energy body carry karma. But the etheric body and
the bliss body do not have any karmic substance because they are
non-physical. The physical dimension of existence happens
between cause and eect. But what is beyond the physical does
not happen between cause and eect. So, the moment you begin
to taste the divine, suddenly, it doesnt matter how many heaps
of karma you have, it has no impact on you because you are
beginning to step into the realm of the non-physical where there
is no karmic substance.
When you do any kind of conscious breathing processes like

kriyas and pranayams, you are

Karma is the
problem of the
many. So, the rst
thing is to stop
creating life works
itself out.

trying to exercise the etheric

body that dimension of you
which has a physical element in
it but is not physical. You are
trying to strengthen that because
you want that to become a
passage, not a barrier to the nonphysical dimension of who you
are. There are various other
aspects to it in terms of
physiological and psychological
benets, and the spiritual

dimension, but one simple aspect is, if this dimension, which is

the link between the physical body and the non-physical
dimension that is the very source of creation, becomes a strong
force by itself, then the physicality of who you are, the
psychological structure that you call as myself, and that
dimension which is the source of all this will naturally be
connected all the time. The idea is that Divine is not an idea or
belief in your life, Divine is a living presence in your life. That is
the basis of sadhana, that these three are well integrated and
connected on a moment-to-moment basis. We are not looking for
highs or a once-in-a-way experience, we are looking for constant
contact with that dimension. Only then it nds expression in the
way you live, in the way you exist, in the way you can do things
in everything.