Bureaucracy is not a barrier in a nation’s life, as many believe. A nationhood stands not on its political leaders or electoral system, but on its bureaucracy. It is only because we have a tenacious and well-organised bureaucratic system, accompanied by a certain training, that a nation remains functional.
The task of administering a country is a far bigger responsibility than the five year terms that politicians get. So empowering a bureaucrat’s life towards a stress-free and disease-free mode is important to ensure that the nation does not creak under its own weight.
If it is creaking today it is because its fundamental structure is being pushed beyond its limits. Bureaucrats are being asked to do unreasonable things, often to bend the law rather than enforce it. This makes the life of a civil servant extremely demanding.
While corporate management is largely unidirectional, bureaucratic management entails a complex and multidimensional negotiation of men and materials. The nature of this work could take its toll on an individual unless he takes charge of inner situations, and ensures that these are not shaken by external circumstance.
Bureaucracy should not merely be perceived superficially, but as the sinew that holds a nation together. This sinew can only be strengthened when individual bureaucrats are brought to a certain level of inner balance and strength.
In the colonial era, bureaucrats were often seen as instruments of tyranny, and were known largely as tax collectors and enforcers. Unfortunately, even today, district administrators are referred to as collectors. This insinuating reference needs to be eradicated.
People should look at bureaucrats as those who facilitate their wellbeing. This is only possible if the bureaucrats themselves are able to come to a natural inner state of well being. Every civil servant has the opportunity to touch millions of lives in the span of a career. This power to change people’s lives is a great privilege. In countries like ours, where a large segment of the population has such a bad deal with life, this becomes an even greater privilege.
But it is important not to allow that privilege to turn into a burden. This makes it a must for every bureaucrat to bring himself into a state which is naturally pleasant within. Unless we are in a certain state of inner pleasantness we really have no business to touch anybody else’s lives.
The general whine would be, ‘No, no, we have no time to meditate.’ But what needs to be understood is that if your work is important who you are needs to be worked at.
In this endeavour, at Isha we have empowered hundreds of bureaucrats through the process of Inner Engineering – a scientific process to engineer oneself the way one needs to be. If the inner mechanism of the human being (which embodies the very source of creation) is kept alive and well lubricated, an individual can go through any given situation, however extreme, untouched. This means you can play with life whichever way you want, but life will not leave a scratch upon you.
Every human experience has a chemical basis. When I say ‘Inner Engineering’, I am talking about a technology with which you can create the right kind of chemistry for yourself, where you can create a situation of ecstasy all the time -- consciously. Right now it is happening accidentally, triggered by something external. But if you can create it unconsciously by looking at the sunset, or your loved one, you can also create it consciously.
Today there are millions of people whose experience of life has become blissful and ecstatic simply by employing powerful methods of wellbeing. Since ancient times the basic ethos of our culture is rooted in these technologies of transformation.
Once you are the person who determines your experience in the world, you can live with total abandon. You don’t have to extract happiness out of anything or anyone; you are just fine by yourself. Once the fear of suffering is taken away from you, you walk through life full stride, not with half steps. Life now becomes just a play. You simply play it the way it is needed.
Sadhguru. Named one of India’s 50 most influential people, Sadhguru is a yogi, mystic, a bestselling author & poet. Sadhguru has been conferred the “Padma Vibhushan” by the Government of India in 2017, the highest civilian award of the year, accorded for exceptional and distinguished service.
