Inner Engineering: A Yogi's Guide to Joy Hardcover – September 20, 2016

I recently came across Sadhguru on one of the podcasts and since then got fascinated with his philosophy which he calls self-transformation.In this book, he relates the moment of his own awakening, and gives guidance to our highest spiritual enlightenment. He is devoted to humanitarian causes.He explains the term guru: “dispeller of darkness, someone who opens the door for you…” He states, “As a guru, I have no doctrine to teach, no philosophy to impart, no belief to propagate. And that is because the only solution for all the ills that plague humanity is self-transformation. Self-transformation means that nothing of the old remains. It is a dimensional shift in the way you perceive and experience life.”This book is summarized, “The wisdom distilled in this accessible, profound, and engaging book offers readers time-tested tools that are fresh, alive, and radiantly new.” And I highly agree with these words.What struck me with Sadhguru is the pure message he relates from the eastern world. And what I’ve been relying on is what I’d call westernized knowledge. For example, in the western world, we keep hearing about seeking purpose in life as pursuit of happiness, but as Sadhguru explains the purpose of life is to be happy. And happiness comes from within. No external factor will make us happy. And what we seek as purpose in the western world is still classified as external factor in the eastern world. We will never be truly happy until we understand the meaning of happiness that comes from within.This is one of the most profound and engaging reads if you’re interested in spirituality.

At first I started to enumerate all the reasons why I recommend this book, but I soon realized there are far too many and I was almost writing a book of my own. So rather than try to pick a few, I will just say that for me this is a keeper, and it goes on the top shelf.I've been a Buddhist for most of my adult life, so Sadhguru's words are mostly watering existing seeds rather than planting new ones. That said, his perspective is fresh and contemporary.Subject matter aside, I have found in the author an interesting, lovable, admirable, and inspirational character. Please enjoy.

It took me 5 years to finally read this book and the timing was quite apt.I discovered things about life and then returned to see that these discoveries were written here.It clarified and organized what I observed quite well. Which solidified my understanding of what was intended by the teachings and discoveries of Yoga. Fascinating.

This book changed the way I look at life. It taught me how to find true joy and peace through yoga. Sadhguru shares his life story and how he discovered inner happiness. It’s an easy read and helps you take control of your own joy. Highly recommended!

I debated whether I should buy this book or not because I have read many of Sadhguru's books and articles and watched his videos. So I assumed I "knew" most of the stuff. And yes, the book is indeed a rehash from his lectures with little new material. But I am wrong in assuming that I do not need this book. I actually found that this book is a pretty good summary of Sadhguru's teachings and offers several new insights. It is really a "guide"!The book started on a "wrong note" for me. In the introduction titled "The four letter word", Sadhguru starts to debunk several "spurious and dangerously misleading teachings in vogue in our world today". I was surprised to see that one of them is "do only one thing at a time" which Sadhguru interpreted as a way of "obliterating the power of a phenomenal multidimensional machine called mind". When there are innumerable scientific studies that conclusively prove that multi-tasking does not lead to productivity and is in fact a poor utilization of brain's capabilities, ridiculing it without understanding the basis for it is something I did not expect from Sadhguru.But the chapter "No Boundary, No Burden" compensates for my initial disappointment. This chapter is a beautiful exploration of the word "responsibility". This is my favorite chapter of the entire book and Sadhguru's awesome wisdom is at display here. This chapter is one of the chapters that constitutes "Part One" of the book, a part that offers a lot of wisdom that forms the basis of Yoga. One of the topics touched upon is "Pancha Koshas", the five sheaths or layers that we are composed of. Sadhguru's description of these Koshas is one of the best I have read. But he puts "Pranamaya Kosha" (energy body) after "Manomaya Kosha" (mental body) while the Yogic and Vedantic tradition actually puts "Pranamaya Kosha" before "Manomaya Kosha". This is a fundamental error and I hope it will be corrected in the future editions of the book (Or possibly Sadhguru has an explanation for this and I was wrong).In Part Two, Sadhguru addresses Body, Mind and Energy. In Body, he explores Hatha Yoga and the popular "Surya Namaskar" (Sun Salutations) and then proceeds to discuss the topics of food, sleep and sex. On the topic of food, Sadhguru does not directly ask us to stop eating meat, but convincingly argues that a vegetarian diet with 50% raw food is ideal for most people. Food advice is often controversial even when it comes from the most revered nutrition experts. So I think his claim that "raw vegetables" take least time to digest and pass through the system can be contested. He himself says "raw meat" takes more time to pass through the system than "cooked meat", so it is only logical that "raw vegetables" should take more time to pass through the system than "cooked vegetables". In fact, traditional Indian health system called "Ayurveda" (which Sadhguru mentions in the book), recommends "cooked food" over "raw food" as raw food is difficult to digest. But Sadhguru is absolutely right in saying that raw foods have much more nutrients than cooked food and do a lot of good to the body. In the end, one should follow his advice of "listening to the body and do what is good for it".The chapter on Mind is my other favorite chapter in the book where Sadhguru explores the "limitations of intellect", "head vs heart conflict" among other things. Yogic terminology such as "Manas" (Mind), "Buddhi" (Intellect), "Chitta" (Consciousness) are explained with impeccable clarity and insight. These complex concepts seem simple enough to be understood, thanks to Sadhguru. The chapter on Energy explains "Chakras", "Kriya Yoga", "Consecrated Spaces" among other things. Though the topics explored here are very interesting, they seem somewhat disjoint.Overall, this is a very good book. It is a wonderful introduction to Yoga and Well-being offered in Sadhguru's inimitable style, filled with jokes and anecdotes. There are Sadhanas (Spiritual Practices) offered through out the book which are very useful. I practiced one of them (when you are very hungry, don't immediately eat; wait for 2 mins and avoid reactionary response) and found it helped me to improve my awareness. So this is a very practical book which we can immediately put to use. I recommend it for everyone.

Great book, especially if you're familiar with Hinduism and quantum physics doesn't hurt, either. Many people think he's a con artist but he is globally recognized as one of the greatest humanitarians of all time. Unfortunately, I think he's gotten too popular with people who think it's a fad and it's hurting his image. Forget all that and just listen to him and he is a phenomenal teacher and speaker. People don't get how humble he actually is. He has millions of volunteers doing charitable and environmental projects all over the world and it will be a great loss when he goes. Hopefully, not before I do.