Throwing yourself away

Every aspect of growth that you know always amounts to accumulation. Your body is growing, that's accumulation. Your business is growing, that's accumulation. Your family is growing, that's accumulation. But when you say spiritual growth, it is a big deception because this is not about accumulation. This is about dissolution. Growing means dissolving, not acquiring. It is because of this contradiction that spirituality seems to be so difficult. Look at this and see, is accumulating something difficult or just throwing things away difficult? Throwing does not take effort. Throwing takes a certain madness, but accumulating takes enormous effort. This is not about throwing things away. Throwing yourself away takes much more madness. This madness looks dangerous because the whole orientation since the very beginning of mankind, has always been accumulation. Everything, whether it is wealth, money, knowledge, people or anything, you accumulate because that is the only way you know how to enhance yourself. You are accumulating, because the way you are right now is not sufficient. You need to add something to yourself to feel a little better. Somebody thinks accumulating money is crude, but accumulating artwork is better. Somebody thinks accumulating things is crude, accumulating people is better. Somebody thinks all these things are crude, accumulating knowledge is best. Whether you gather stones or gods, it makes no difference. It is fundamentally coming from a sense of insufficiency. The way you are is not enough. Something has to be added to this to make you feel good enough. If you add one thing today, it makes you feel good, but tomorrow once again there is a feeling of insufficiency, so you have to add another thing and another thing. That is the basis of all accumulation; and that is what has always been understood as growth. Why spirituality seems to be mind-boggling is not because it is difficult, but because this growth will not happen unless you dissolve or throw away everything that you have accumulated. Throwing away does not mean you have to take the things from house and throw them on the street. It is just that you don't accumulate within yourself. If it is in the house it is convenient, but the problem is you are carrying it in your head all the time. That is burdensome, that is killing. If money is in the pocket, it makes life comfortable, but if you carry it in your head, it is perversion. It is taking life in a million different ways. If people are around you, it is wonderful. If you carry them in your head all the time, it is a big problem. So, throwing it away does not mean throwing them from where they are. Throwing it away, is from you. You don't make it a part of yourself. You use it, you enjoy it, you experience it, but you don't try to make it a part of yourself.Sadhguru, a yogi, is a visionary, humanitarian and a prominent spiritual leader , www.ishafoundation.org