“When pain, misery, or anger happen, it is time to look within you, not around you.”
Sadhguru’s emblematic book, Inner Engineering-A Yogi’s Guide To Joy, is at its heart about this very belief. Pain, anger, joy, and other emotions are, of course, transient elements of life. Elements that are most often reactionary and therefore out of hands. What we can always control, though, is how we react to these external elements. Resources and aptitude may limit your capacity to act, but not your ability to respond. This book serves to teach its readers to respond to situations consciously rather than compulsively. In this manner, your potential to respond and adapt becomes boundless.
That is what Sadhguru tries to, and in our opinion, succeeds at achieving. By breaking down this spiritual guide to living with the best mindset, he gives us a way to live life, not necessarily happier but more content.
This book contains Sadhguru’s teachings on enhancing your consciousness and the overall richness of your life, ultimately bringing bliss. Sadhguru says, “When we are in touch with that aspect beyond the physical, we become blissful.” This is the central theme of the book. The reader slowly learns that our happiness is not bound to physical conditions through the pages. Once you reach that state beyond the physical, bliss is a perpetual state. So how, you might wonder, can people like you or I reach such a state of blissful enlightenment? That is where Yoga comes in.
The book exposes the fundamental meaning of Yoga. “The science of yoga is, quite simply, the science of being in perfect alignment, in absolute harmony, in complete sync with existence.” It describes how Yoga is more than just a physical activity; it is a union of the body and mind with the universe. Yoga isn’t about testing the limits of your body; it’s about finding the perfect balance between the physical state and the spiritual realm. This book is a must-read for everyone who wonders why bliss isn’t always present, why there is grief in the world, or what lies beyond their physical and mental bodies.
Sadhguru discusses desire, the essence of joy, consciousness, and the body, as well as what it takes to live a fulfilled life. He speaks to each person’s needs, and his book lays forth how one can learn about what exists beyond the body and intellect. This book is recommended for anyone interested in personal development, inner transformation, fulfillment, spirituality, or just life in general.
No matter what point in life you’re in or your origin, you’ll find this book quite useful. This book is about the philosophy of Yoga, something that Sadhguru believes to be most impactful in discovering personal joy. Since everything is based on Sadhguru’s own life experiences, individuals can benefit from it from all walks of life.
Sadhguru covers meditation, diet, physical activity, lifestyles, and several types of Yoga. To get his message across, he tells both entertaining and enlightening anecdotes. He walks the reader through basic, small yoga techniques to help them live happier lives. The body, to Sadhguru, is like a machine. Thus, your ‘inner engineer’ can be taught and be equipped to keep this machine functional and running smoothly for a long time.
Sadhguru explains that the main goal of practicing Yoga is harmony. But the harmony of what the reader might ask. Through the practice, the reader will find that they reach the union of karma (body), gnana (mind), bhakti (emotion), and kriya (energy). This, according to Sadhguru, is the path to inner bliss. Once these four pillars are erected, the mind can reach a state of harmony and thus find peace.
Is this book empirical? Not exactly. But much like a human being’s inner workings, things don’t always need to be logical to make sense to us. When we’re angry, we act irrationally. When we love, we often do it at the cost of many small personal needs. We sacrifice for our families daily and spend money on temporary things to feel a sense of control. Human Beings are not logical beings, and we were never meant to be. Therefore, a book that serves as a guide to living a better holistic life doesn’t need to be either.
Sadhguru’s teachings come from inner experiences, as he puts it, and that is exactly how we should perceive it. He clearly states that his advice isn’t meant to be a strict principle, but more so an outline to find your meaning to joy. To him, a guru is not necessarily a teacher but a tool. In his book, Sadhguru says that a guru can open a door for you. What they can’t do is walk on that path with you. Your journey is your own.
Sadhguru’s straightforward explanations of some of life’s most basic concepts help you grasp their deep influence and realize that shifting your perspective may transform a mundane routine into a life-changing experience. He believes strongly that aligning the four parts of the being is the way to achieve inner bliss, and the book explores all the ways we can find this harmony through yogic practices like diet, chants, and meditation.
This book avoids preaching about religion. Instead, it uses spirituality to express its universal views beautifully. Unlike other works, it does not stop at instilling hope in the face of ostensibly unreasonable and therefore unattainable aspirations.
The author frequently invites the reader to experiment with what has been explored in the book to obtain digestible knowledge of calm, well-being, and out-of-body sensations. This book is full of fascinating anecdotes. Some are light-hearted, while others are direct, yet they all successfully communicate the intended information to the reader.
The ultimate purpose of the book is to make joy a constant companion. Inner Engineer is divided into two parts which address this purpose in two ways. The first part is essentially a guide to locating the parts of your life that suck the joy out of your soul. Through personal anecdotes and explanations of the philosophy of Yoga, Sadhguru gives us the tools we need to achieve self-awareness and self-actualization. This part is more metaphysical and explores the spiritual aspects of our psychologies.
The second part of the book picks up from that self-awareness to diagnose. Once the reader is aware of their inner world and the world around them— both physical and spiritual— the second part uses various methods such as Yoga, lifestyle, and diet to help the reader find the joy that they find otherwise elusive.
Sadhguru offers a roadmap to better our bodies, minds, and energies. Doing physical asanas, keeping our spine erect, and slowing down our breath improve our bodies. Food nourishes the body, which he suggests should be vegetarian or at the very least fish, with no higher animals. Rest and pleasure are basic human needs that must be addressed for the body to be at ease. When you ignore or moralize basic human urges, you incur challenges.
The ultimate goal of life is joy, and while staying happy all of the time is difficult, learning to live a joyful life by discovering happiness within ourselves should be the goal of all human beings on this planet.
Human nature is such that we always want to be more than we are today; we always want to advance and progress in every aspect of our lives. This book answers concerns regarding this never-ending yearning and how it can be stoked for personal gain in a few basic ways with regular effort. The text focuses on realizing one’s full human potential and making life worthwhile. This book enlightens, entertains, and changes people’s lives for the better.
As human beings, we are by design creatures of growth. We desire boundless expansion, and that very desire has made us what we are as species. We went from primitive hunters to a dominant species with science and civilization on the back of this desire. It is our single greatest trait as a species.
We have a hundred more wishes waiting to be gratified when one desire is achieved. We come into this life with many expectations, and if we don’t receive what we want, we’re unhappy. But even when our needs are realized, we frequently find something missing or look forward to the next desire. Life seems to fly by, and before we know it, we’re on our deathbeds. We have an insatiable want for more and more, and we will never be satisfied. The fundamental issue is that we have everything except ourselves.
Sadhguru’s book doesn’t ask us to diminish this desire. This isn’t that kind of book. Instead, his belief is sublime in its simplicity: an unconscious expression of this desire is negative. It can cause us constant anxiety, whereas a conscious and aware implementation is Yoga.
But, for Sadhguru, what is Yoga?
It is not what western media feed us to believe. The image of a person sitting in a lotus pose, contorting their bodies, is a bastardized version of Yoga. Sadhguru opens our eyes to how this image is perpetuated to keep the fad going so some people can profit off the ignorance of the mass.
Yoga is not an exercise to lose weight. Neither is it a compilation of breathing techniques. It is simply the science of being in proper alignment, total harmony, and complete peace with all of existence. Yoga is a way of life that requires an open mind and a fresh outlook— not a flexible body.
Sadhguru’s book is in many ways enlightening without being so ascetic that it feels out of touch with its readers. Through stories from real-life based on his own experiences along with easy-to-follow language, this book truly is approachable in its attempt. This book explains spirituality and YogaYoga as a way of life, not a doctrine that needs complex methods of execution.
Sadhguru does not encourage people to take refuge in fate or karma. Instead, his philosophy is based on action-consequence. All your actions and inactions are ultimately your own. A person either reacts to a situation that is acted on them or reacts to one of their actions. Understanding this gives us more control over our lives. And once you are sitting in the driver’s seat of your own life, joy is a byproduct of the process. Every human being should assume full responsibility for making their life a good one, rather than relying on fate.
“The whole effort of the spiritual process is to break the boundaries you have drawn for yourself and experience the immensity that you are. The aim is to unshackle yourself from the limited identity you have forged,” writes Sadhguru. Thus, this book attempts not to package spirituality in a neat package for mass consumption. Instead, it shows you that it is an inner journey.
Sadhguru’s perspective of spirituality is a unique one. He doesn’t give us long, elaborate poems or old beliefs to follow. The self-proclaimed ‘contemporary’ guru gives us a very contemporary outlook indeed.
This book might be exactly what you need to navigate our modern world. In a world where the next promotion is always a milestone away, where there’s always a new sale to find or a certain number of likes to get satisfaction from, Inner Engineering is the book that tells you that the joy you try to find in these things but which never seems to stay is actually inside you.
Inner joy is the secret to a good life, and Sadhguru not only understands this but is also more than capable of explaining it to the reader. This book can be your driving force if you are a seeker trying to figure out what your life means and how to make something of it. This must be read repeatedly, and the sadhanas must be practiced daily to get the most out of them.
This simplistic outlook makes this book a must-read from our side. Such a sublime outlook ensures that the reader can truly incorporate Sadhguru’s teachings into their daily life without feeling burdened by them. It is no surprise that so many people have found inner peace and meaning through the journey of reading this book.
The book can be picked up by a beginner looking for inner peace and also picked up by a seasoned reader of spiritual texts for a wonderful outlook. Sadhguru addresses a wide range of topics in this book that will help you improve the quality of your life. He discusses why rage is the worst and most wasteful emotion and how we should be proactive rather than reactive. He discusses how to make Yoga a way of life and its value not only for physical but also mental health. He prioritizes becoming a full-fledged human being before experiencing life in all of its complexities. This book includes information that can help you make many positive changes in your life. Every chapter is informative and offers helpful hints for making life more enjoyable.
Sadhguru’s text paints a rich world through words. Otherwise, metaphysical concepts are explained succinctly through small anecdotes and events that people in modern society are well versed in. This book describes the entire process of introspection. It’s an excellent book for anyone who wishes to discover their inner powers, find peace within themselves and be free of outward miseries.
The majority of self-help, spirituality and personal growth books are philosophical. Inner Engineering provides highly practical strategies for orchestrating your life the way you want it to be orchestrated. The phases of mind and their nature were explored in detail. The sadhanas or experiments that emerge throughout the text are a short series of simple activities.
It’s a fantastic book for improving one’s quality of life and comprehending the inner workings of the very source of creation. Some of the techniques discussed in the book are beneficial. It’s a book for people who wish to change their lives from the inside out. It has the potential to take you along the path of enlightenment.
He presents a worldview based on common sense and, as the book proceeds, on Yoga practices, in which he examines mind, body, and energy from the perspective of what he refers to as the “science of yoga.” This book enlightens, entertains, and changes people’s lives for the better.
When one’s gender, economic class, and religion are established by placing guidelines on them from birth, there are no options outside those constraints, and many attractive opportunities are lost. Inner Engineering demonstrates how to remove one’s mind from such ingrained notions and re-examine them. As a result, one can make an informed decision regarding their view of ultimate reality rather than being convinced that their method is the only way to live and die.
To achieve the freedom of response in any form to any event in life is what Sadhguru considers personal responsibility. To have complete freedom, you must choose your correct response to any situation on all levels—spiritual, emotional, intellectual, and physical. It’s inconceivable unless we have some sense of separation and awareness from the ego.
The last major subject of the book is detachment or awareness as distinct from the ego. In his perspective, this consciousness is devoid of religious limits in the traditional sense and is all about practice. The book teaches us that religion should not limit us by its limitations but rather allow us to understand the vast power of the universe to improve our well-being.
Through this book, Sadhguru attempts to make our modern lives a little more tolerable. With the knowledge that all our internal problems also comes the awareness that the solutions are the same. Our mindset can go a long way in determining our sense of contentment and joy. Through the process of understanding Sadhguru’s philosophy and practicing the sadhanas he gives, the process can be less daunting to any reader. Joy is about simplicity and a change in perspective. A glass half full is a more helpful metaphor than we realize, though it is easier said than done. With the Inner Engineer, you could realize that the glass can be full. If only you reduce the size of your glass.
Reviews
Beyond its context, this book also has a clear positive impact on its reader if the reviews are anything to go by. Over and over, reviews say that this book has provided a positive outlook on life or changed their perspectives somehow. “I personally feel is this book is so soothing that will feel like you are doing meditation every time you read this.” Writes one critic when talking about this book.
And truly, Sadhguru’s text does read in such a sublime and clear way that it’s both easy to understand and enlightening to experience. “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.” It says another review on amazon.
Another expert review says that, ‘Inner Engineering is definitely a great read, rich with Sadhguru’s feelings, teachings, and insights. If you are ready, it can be a tool that awakens your own inner intelligence, which is the supreme and the ultimate genius that mirrors the wisdom of the cosmos.’
And we believe so as well. This book is like a guide that you can keep coming back to. Whether it’s for advice, guidance, or just to read one of the anecdotes provided. This book is an exercise in finding a way of life, and that is why there’s always something new to find if you pick it up again.