As you all know, recently the results of the elections of West Bengal and several other states were declared. After reading the first sentence, you might think about why I bothered to write about it under the "Sadhguru" subreddit. But trust me, please read the whole post. You will see the connection. I'm from West Bengal, to be precise, Kolkata. Last year, at the airport, we, the devotees of Sadhguru, had the immense fortune of meeting him and listening to him for a few minutes. I've been seeing a lot of Instagram reels from devotees of Sadhguru claiming that we should've anticipated that the change was coming through BJP the moment Sadhguru came to Kolkata and talked about creating an ashram in West Bengal. I also came to notice that, since independence, for the first time in India, there are no communist parties in a ruling position. These might seem like a bunch of information with no correlation to each other. But I'm slowly arriving there.
I was watching one of J Sai Deepak's videos where he was saying how Indian communists are anti-national and have repeatedly been noticed promoting anti-Hindu propaganda. But he also mentioned, "I do actually agree with many Marxist ideas. In theory, I think that any rational person should support communism." Also, as Isha devotees, contrary to the popular belief of communism being a utopia, we've seen how everyone in Isha ashrams works. In Isha, everyone is just 'anna' or 'akka'. There is no hierarchy of power, no division between rich vs poor, capitalists vs employees, or landlords vs peasants. It's basically the epitome of a classless society. Communism preaches that people are supposed to live decently: “from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs." And where can we see it more evidently other than in Isha Foundation? Communists believe in the idea of ending the exploitation of the working class by making workers collectively own and control production. Interestingly, it has been brought to my attention that Isha has a program named Farmer Producer Organization. A company by the farmers, of the farmers, for the farmers. The name of the first company they ever created was Velliangiri Uzhavan. In 2013, they were able to make a turnover of forty-five thousand rupees. Today, that number has turned into a turnover of 32 crores with 1063 farmers. Isha has been able to recognise the fundamental problem, which is a lack of scale, and become a part of the solution. There are probably a hundred other examples of how things work to make the situation better for everyone in society in Isha Foundation. So, I am not going to bother mentioning every single aspect and will come straight to my point.
My question is: considering the situation in Isha ashrams and Isha Foundation in general, would it be quite improper to suggest that communism, as an ideology, not only sounds great but is not utopian at all? In fact, if it goes to people with a balanced state of mind, it can be prosperous for everyone. Now, I'm very much aware of the fact that Sadhguru has repeatedly praised Narendra Modi and the current government, and neither Isha Foundation nor Sadhguru himself publicly identifies with communism. But Sadhguru has often used communism as a metaphor for his view of community and equality, and he has openly said that he felt left-leaning and even “leftist” in his youth. So, is it not plausible to collectively agree that the theory of communism being regarded as an elegant daydream of liberal idealists, a utopian reverie that looks imposing on paper yet staggers when tested by human nature, is not only misleading but also profoundly disheartening?
But at the same time, I would also like to mention that a vision of a world without poverty or hierarchy presumes a saintly humanity, which I have personally found only in Isha, a disposition I have seen, in rare exception, embodied there, where perfect equality has been maintained not at the sacrifice of prosperity, but even in alliance with it.