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How to Get Rid of Bad Habits

On this Spot, Sadhguru offers a way to permanently break the endless cycle of bad habits and
futile intentions to get out of these habits. He says, When you do things habitually, it seems
easier, but there is no awareness, no growth.

Blog Home Sadhguru Sadhguru Spot Jan 4, 2017

E specially at the beginning of a new year, one question that

frequently comes up is how to get rid of bad habits. There is no
such thing as good habits and bad habits all habits are bad. Habit
means doing things unconsciously, automatically. For example, there are
basically two ways of brushing your teeth. You can do it consciously,
which means you adapt the length of time and intensity to the
requirements of the moment. Thats how it should be. Or you can do it
according to a fixed regimen, that for three minutes, you have to wear
out your teeth. If you were conscious, you would eat and sleep as
necessary for the body on that day. In fact, you would do everything as
necessary. But now, a lot of your day-to-day activities follow a habit or
prescription when you should wake up, when you should go to bed,
what you should eat, what you should not eat. If everything is by
prescription, it is slavery whether it comes from your doctor or a slave
master. If you do not know what you really need at any given moment, it
is due to lack of consciousness.

Classifying habits into good and bad

ones is like saying there is good
unconsciousness and bad
There is no such unconsciousness. If you consider
thing as good habits something a good habit, it is like saying
you are unconscious in a nice way,
and bad habits all which in a way means being dead in a
nice way. The fundamental difference
habits are bad. between being alive and being dead is A woman should not
being conscious versus being absolutely have to fit into a mans
unconscious. Being partially world. Half the world
unconscious is being partially dead. Do should anyway be hers.
not establish any kind of habit. The
fundamental idea of withdrawing into retreats or coming to a spiritual
space is to find a supportive atmosphere where you can do everything
consciously. You somehow established habits to manage your day-to-
Sadhguru
day life. When you come to a spiritual space, you are supposed to pay Todays Mystic Quote
attention to the requirements of your body, your mind, your emotions,
and your energies. You need to consciously pay attention to what this life
naturally longs for. If you are unconscious, its a crime against yourself.
If you are doing something that you think is spiritual because of me, its
a crime against me. You better not do that.

If you want get rid of habits, do not think you have to get rid of
unconsciousness. The prefix un- suggests that something is non-
existent. Consciousness is. Un-consciousness is the absence of
consciousness. You cannot get rid of something that does not exist. To
use an example suppose the room is dark. Trying to expel the darkness
would be an insane effort. To get rid of darkness, you just have to light it
up. If you light it up, darkness is gone. Darkness is not an existence by
itself. It is the absence of light. Similarly, unconsciousness is not an
existence by itself. It is just absence of consciousness. If you become
conscious, you will not need to fight with unconscious habits. You need
to work on becoming conscious. Being conscious is the essence of life.
You know that you are alive only because you are reasonably conscious.

To become more conscious, you have to raise the intensity of your

energies. Thats what we are working on. Your physical body has
gathered inertia thats why the hatha yoga in the morning. Your mind
has gotten into habitual patterns thats why the Inner Engineering
class aspects and certain meditation practices. Your energies have gotten
into their own patterns thats why sadhana. The idea is to break the
cycles of unconsciousness and become conscious. When you become
conscious, at least initially, it looks like you are in unknown terrain it
seems difficult. When you do things habitually, it seems easier, but there
is no awareness, no growth.

When I went to conduct a program in

the Coimbatore prison for the first time,
almost twenty-five years ago, I
To become more observed that this set-up is something a
conscious, you have whole lot of people are seeking in their
life. This is a place where someone
to raise the intensity always opens and closes the door for
you; they turn the lights on and off for
of your energies. you; food comes bang on time. This is
what a whole lot of people want in their
life organization, systems, and
efficiency. The only problem is that it is
forced upon you that is why people
suffer it. If you enter the prison, there is suffering in the air. No matter in
which prison I conducted a program, not once have I stepped out of the
place without tears in my eyes because the amount of suffering in the
atmosphere is unbearable. What a human being suffers most is not lack
of comfort, wealth, and other things it is lack of freedom.

Prison life is far simpler than going to work, getting stuck in the traffic,
and all these situations that you face on a daily basis. As a prisoner, you
are a state guest. If you are looking for a thoroughly organized life
without surprises, this is it. If every little thing that happens causes you
stress and tension and throws you off balance, prison life is perfect.
Everything is in order, no surprises. Even the menu for the next seven
days is displayed and will be strictly followed they will serve nothing
more, nothing less. Everything is according to plan. Those who are
looking for an orderly, uneventful life, prison is the best place. But
human beings suffer immensely when there is no freedom. Habit means
you have created a little prison for yourself, which you will eventually
suffer. Initially, it looks like efficiency. After some time, it is
imprisonment. A prison is in many ways an epitome of efficiency. But
efficiency is not what this life is striving for. This life is striving for the
freedom to expand. When this is taken away, ones face will become long
and joyless in spite of a perfectly organized life.

This reminds me of a conversation with a very well-known management

expert from the US, who propounded his management principles that
were based on rigid processes. Everything was fixed down to the last
detail in order to increase efficiency. It looked like a prison cell to me. To
give you another example there are manicured gardens, which look
perfect. And there are forests, which look like chaos. But if you dont
manage the manicured garden for one month, it will be ruined. Forests
have been managing themselves for millions of years. Obviously, forests
are far better organized and far more efficient. To take this example
further, enlightenment means you transform from a manicured garden
into a forest that sustains itself without any outside support. No one
needs to water it, manure it, or trim it. Everything happens within itself.
It will sustain itself because there is efficiency of chaos.

We call something chaos because it doesnt fit into our logical framework
that doesnt mean that it is inefficient. Habit means you have become a
slave of your own logic, and after some time, it becomes an automatic,
unconscious pattern. To get rid of habits, you have to become conscious.
If you become more conscious, there will be no such thing as habits. You
will do what is right for you and the situation around you in this
particular moment. Intention does not bring transformation only
consciousness does.

Love & Grace,

POSTED IN: Sadhguru Spot

TAGS: Awareness, Consciousness, Hatha Yoga, Sadhana, Spiritual Growth, Starred, Transformation

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