The New Year started out with a bang for the Isha Florida volunteers! It was during Sadhguru’s New Year’s Eve darshan at the Isha Institute of Inner-sciences that the word was out, Sadhguru would be coming to Tampa for an Inner Engineering Completion program in Spring of 2017. It had been 10 years since Sadhguru had conducted Inner Engineering in Florida and the volunteers were eagerly awaiting his return, excited about the possibility of hosting the program.
Months of preparation began early this year from confirming the Tampa Convention Center to meticulously planning outreach into the local community and across the East Coast to make people aware that this was going to be the only program that Sadhguru would conduct on the East Coast this year. Volunteers conducted a series of Upa Yoga sessions as well as Introductory talks around the State. Over 16 media publications ran stories about the event.
Watch Interview with our volunteers on WFLA Morning Show
Over 1,600 people from more than 16 countries registered for the Inner Engineering Completion program. Hours before the program was scheduled to begin, the entire registration area was buzzing with excitement and anticipation. The participants eagerly waited to go into the hall knowing that if they arrived early, they would have the opportunity to sit as close to Sadhguru as possible.
For the first time in the US, a walkway was created in the ballroom which extended 150 feet from the stage towards the back of the hall. This added to the sense of intimacy between Sadhguru and the attendees.
The next 1.5 days unfolded to be a truly magical experience. Sadhguru revealed the mechanics of the human system peppering discourses with jokes and anecdotes that kept the participants joyfully absorbed. With his unique blend of wit and wisdom, one moment the crowd would be rolling with laughter, the next they would fall into a deep state of introspection and silence. As the time for the initiation process drew near, the openness and willingness of the participants was palpable.
After initiation, Sadhguru shared his vision to produce a million people who have the capability to impart simple yoga practices with the commitment to reach out to at least one hundred people.
Sadhguru: “There are many things happening in the world. Everyday if you open the newspapers or watch the news… a whole lot of ugly things happening in the world everyday. A lot of us seem to think that we have no role to play in all of this. Knowingly or unknowingly all of us are a part of it. All the ugliest things that are happening, don’t think they’re just happening. They’re all being caused by human beings like you and me.
So as a part of the solution, this is all the choice we have. We may not be able to set everything right tomorrow morning, but we have a choice either to be a part of the problem or to be a part of the solution. The first and foremost part of the solution is that I am not a problem in the world. This you must make it happen, yes? You are never the problem, wherever you go. If there are problems that we can solve, we will solve. If we cannot solve, we will sit quietly but you will not be the problem.
We’ve taken this upon ourselves that we want to produce a million people who have some capability to impart something very simple. It is very very simple. Everything is digitally provided for you. You just have to have the commitment that in one year’s time at least one hundred people you will teach something very simple which takes twelve to fifteen minutes for them to practice. It takes an overall of forty five minutes to fifty minutes for you to teach. And you can just pass on that digital information with a little bit of instructions for which we will train you. The training itself takes two hours for you to learn. If you learn this in forty five minutes you can impart it, daily twelve to fifteen minutes practice in their life, some change. We have to start somewhere. So if one million people commit to teach one hundred people in one year, we have one hundred million people. We are becoming a big solution. Yes? Will you make this happen? Will you be a part of this?”
Inspired by this vision, the hall resonated with spontaneous cheer and applause. Just before Sadhguru departed, he walked into the large group of participants and they gathered around him, hands clasped in tears of joy and gratitude for what they had received. Then the whole space became a sea of people dancing, crying and laughing with joyful abandon – Truly a ‘Wave of Bliss’.
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