Just Stay with the Intrigue (Story of Sage Nandanar by Sadhguru)

The problem with most logical minds is, something intrigues you and you give a stupid explanation to it and you kill it right there. Most minds are incapable of living with intrigue. They want a stupid answer today and they will come to a conclusion tonight before they go to bed. […] There is so much here….There is so much everywhere….Unanswered. You don’t have the intelligence or the means to answer these questions. Just remain like that. That is a sincere human being. One who knows that he doesn’t know the answers is a sincere human being. One who finds a silly, logical answer is a foolish human being, but he thinks he’s smart. This is all that’s needed. You just have to walk with this intrigue. If you have devotion in your heart, fantastic. If you don’t have devotion in your heart, … just maintain the intrigue. That’s all it takes.

– Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev

[Subtitles/captions are also available on the video]

 

Full Transcript:

Right from his childhood, Shiva has so fired him up. Just some 25 kilometres away, there’s a famous Shiva temple and he feels Shiva is calling him. But his life is not his own. He can’t make the trip. Any number of times, he presented his case to the landlord: “Just a one-day trip, I’ll go to the temple.” The landlord always said, “Today there is weeding, day after tomorrow there is fertilising, day after tomorrow there is some other work… you have to till the land. No, one day you can’t waste. What do you think! As it is you’re a useless fellow. One day you want to waste in a life?!” Any number of times he presented the case.

This started building up within him…He wants to see Shiva. This time he went and stood in front of the landlord with a different kind of dignity that a bonded labour never knows, is not supposed to have. And the landlord started off, “You idiot! Last time your mother was sick, before that your sister was getting married, before that your grandmother died 3 times over. Now you want to go to the temple? Nothing doing!” He said, “I’ll do all the work today. Tomorrow, just a day trip. I will go and come.” Then the landlord [in] some moment…just [saw] this new dignity in the man, the new energy that was reverberating in him. In a moment, the landlord gave in and said “OK, go and come back before evening.” Then he realised what he’s done. Then he said, “Before you leave, all the 40 acres, you must till and go. Entire 40 acres you must plough. It’s evening. Before morning you must plough and then go to the temple.”

He was not foolish enough even to attempt that. He just went to bed. His entire system was reverberating. He knew he will go to the temple, no matter what’s the consequence. A new kind of energy has been reverberating through his entire body. Morning, before he woke up, there was a big commotion in the village. “What is it?!” The entire 40 acres was ploughed. And he came out and looked. He couldn’t believe it. The landlord was standing with his mouth open. The landlord’s wife and children started coming and falling at this man’s feet, whose name we do not know. Generally, he’s referred to as ‘the tiller’.

He couldn’t believe this. Then he knew. He always thought, by appealing to Shiva, he can move the laws of nature, he can bend the laws of nature. But the laws of man are so cruel, that you can never bend them. But here, laws of man and gods and nature, all bent. Suddenly people came, put silver coins in his hand.. somebody put a food hamper in his hand, somebody gave him a stick and said, “He’s god of the temple, he’s the chosen one.” “Shiva himself has come and ploughed 40 acres of land.”

He went to the temple with great joy in his heart. Having lived a life of an outcaste, he’s not forgotten that he cannot cross the threshold of the temple. He stood there. Of course, they wouldn’t let him into the temple. He knew, they’re not going to bend the rules. And all he wants to do is just see what’s in[side]. The big Nandi which was sitting in his way, the Nandi moved to one side.

Later on, people called him Nandanar…he became a famous sage. Nobody ever knew his name because he’s just known as a tiller. But his entire life is just this one thing. You cannot even call him a devotee. Just intrigued. Unwilling to let go of the intrigue.

The problem with most logical minds is, something intrigues you, then you give a stupid explanation to it and you kill it, right there. Most minds are incapable of living with intrigue. They want a stupid answer today and they’ll come to a conclusion tonight before they go to bed…“Oh this is like this, that is like that”...Every idiot on the planet thinks he’s a scientist because they read some textbook in school. This stupid text book is no more relevant. Anybody, any man of science will not accept this stupid stuff anymore.

There is so much here….There is so much everywhere….Unanswered. You don’t have the intelligence or the means to answer these questions. Just remain like that. That is a sincere human being. One who knows that he doesn’t know the answers is a sincere human being. One who finds a silly, logical answer is a foolish human being….but he thinks he’s smart. This is all that’s needed. You just have to walk with this intrigue. If you have devotion in your heart, fantastic. If you don’t have devotion in your heart, your mind bothers you, [then] just maintain the intrigue. That’s all it takes.”

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