Before telling you who Shankaran Pillai is, let us tell you a story about him: Once Pillai and his colleague were on their way to office. Pillai asked what time it was. His colleague said he had no idea. So Pillai replied, It doesn’t matter. Even if we are late, at least we are thinking about being on time. That’s enough.

Well, this is how most people’s spirituality is. They are thinking about it, reading about it, talking about it... so what if they are no way close to it. 

— That’s Sadhguru, the “yogi, mystic and visionary” from Coimbatore, explaining what it means to be in sync with his world view. “You have to keep aside all such thinking, reading and talking, and instead, get down to the real stuff. Will you?” said the 58-year-old globetrotting, motorcycle-loving spiritual master, addressing a 300-odd gathering at the Pala banquets in ITC Sonar on a Friday morning, for Syncing with Sadhguru, organised by Ladies Study Group (LSG), Calcutta. This was weeks before he would be speaking on “Yoga for the Achievement of Sustainable Development Goals” at a special event at the UN headquarters in New York on June 20 and 21.

So, who is Shankaran Pillai? Well, he kept coming into the conversation frequently throughout the session, often making the audience burst out in laughter, till we realised that Shankaran Pillai could be anybody — you, me or them.

Food for thought t2 came back with after Syncing with Sadhguru:

• Horoscope or horror-scope? Those who want to know about their future must be shit-scared of life. Beware. In the pursuit of knowing what will happen tomorrow, don’t miss today. 

• When you are alone, if you are miserable, then you must be in bad company. Think it over.

• Stop categorising things as sacred or non-sacred, moral or immoral, good or bad. Because all these are relative terms and are subject to change from one situation to another. Instead, try to see things as what works and what doesn’t. 

• Don’t believe or disbelieve. Try to experience. Then you will know.

• We often create ghosts in our head and then fight them. And we name these ghosts as stress, tension, anxiety... many names, which are essentially different colours of the psychological drama going on in our heads. 

• Equip yourself for life. And that means taking control of your thoughts and emotions. You must know how to deal with at least your thoughts and emotions.

• Let everything that’s life happen to you. Have you come here to experience life or to avoid life? If you want to experience life, then you must open up every barrier and allow life to happen to you.

• Always know that the relationships you have are your creations. If you are in any kind of relationship with anyone or anything, that’s because you need it.