'Tech is not the problem, compulsiveness is'

Time of India

01-08-2025

Who you are will decide how you use technology, says Sadhguru in an exclusive interview. Excerpts:
How big a problem is
digital addiction
, especially for the young? How can they be helped to overcome its ill effects?
It is not technology that is the problem, compulsiveness is. Today, in many countries, they have technology de-addiction centres, where people go to learn how to live without a phone! It's a huge achievement for them to put their phone away for whatever number of days.
The beautiful thing about technology is if you learn to use it, it works for you. But who you are will decide how you use it. So what we need to fix right now in the world is who we are. We have all become many things that we are not. Essentially, we are born as life on this planet; the rest of the things are taught to us. We should stop teaching all this stuff which makes us something other than human beings.
The internet or a phone is not the problem, but what is on it is the question.
Now, some children are playing video games on phones. Two-three hours a day they are practising how to kill someone. Once they turn 18, will they be satisfied just shooting them on the phone? We are putting our children through this, and then we think they are violent, that they are wrong. No. Who is putting this content on the phone? Is it the children? No, adults are putting it - everything has become about commerce.
Technology is a tremendous enabler. It gives us the means to reach the entire humanity. This was never possible before. When you have this capability, why do we think we cannot transform the world? We can. But are we committed to making it happen?
How can the young protect their mental health in the modern, fast-paced world? Are changes required in the education system?
Instead of reacting compulsively, we must learn to respond consciously to everything.
When the British left India, literacy rate was low. Initially, our focus was on basic literacy. However, now the time has come for education to become more specialised and competency-oriented. Today, fewer students are opting for core sciences because our education system has always been job-oriented. Yes, that focus was necessary at one point.
But many parents today can support their children as they pursue something meaningful - even if it doesn't immediately translate into economic benefit.
We can relax the pace and focus on core education - on sciences, the arts, music. And even within technology, we need to encourage work at the cutting edge, which requires a much deeper level of application. Because if you don't immerse yourself in something, nothing profound will ever come of it.
Is there an effective way to deal with stress?
Stress is not in the situation; stress is in the way we are. It's not caused by your job, relationship, or anything external.
It's because you haven't learned to manage your body, mind, emotions, and energies. When I first went to the US, I heard the term 'stress management'. I couldn't understand it. Why would anyone want to manage stress? You manage your money, business, relationships - not stress. But in the West, they've come to believe that stress is a universal condition and needs to be managed.
However, stress is not a universal phenomenon, it's an individual malady.
You recently had two brain surgeries. How did you and those who are close to you handle the anxiety?
I had never been in a hospital before; the gown, the setting - everything was new. Was it painful? Absolutely - 100%. Did I suffer mentally? No.
How did you separate physical pain from mental suffering?
Pain is physical. If pain didn't exist, you wouldn't know how to protect your body. Suffering, however, is something you manufacture in your mind. As far as possible, when you walk through life, your job is to avoid creating suffering for others. But if you have mastered the art of creating suffering for yourself, you will inevitably create suffering for others too, knowingly or unknowingly.