Hyderabad: Too much identification with gender essentially means you are identifying yourself by your body parts, said Isha Foundation founder Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev.
“If you have to identify yourself with your body parts why identify only by your reproductive organs? Why not with your brains,” he said.
He was speaking at an interactive session about women’s empowerment with MP Kalvakuntla Kavitha on Monday.
When Ms Kavitha asked him if there was a level playing field for women in spiritual work, because there are not many female gurus, he replied, “If you were identifying yourself on the basis of gender, then how could things bigger than life happen?”
“Seventy per cent of the positions at Isha Foundation are handled by women. That is not because I implement any reservations but because I designate responsibilities irrespective of the gender,” the Sadhguru said.
Asked if he would organise a rally to promote the cause of reservation for women as he did for rivers, he said, "It will take 15-20 years more for women to have a level playing field. When Ambedkar made reservations, he made it for a limited period of time so that we can make up for our historical disadvantages.
“As a nation, we are 70 years old. We must understand that in the first 50 years, we were in survival mode, desperate to make the nation stand together. Only in the last 20 years have we stepped into the developing stage. It will take another 15 to 20years to see a level playing field for women.”
He was asked about how women sometimes turn against women who have achieved something big and become their enemy. Sadhguru pointed out that it happens with men too but we don't think it’s peculiar. But, when women have women as enemies then it becomes peculiar.
“You should not bother about what others say; if you know you are doing something significant, all the negatives do not matter,” he said. “It is always a dog’s pleasure to bark. If you want to work with the most ideal people, I often ask them to head to heaven immediately.”
He said people have started measuring their success by their economic status. But success need not always be measured in economic terms. It has to be measured in quality of life.
