The Guru, the Podcaster, and the Missing Questions

In the above podcasts, Jaggi Vasudev, popularly known as Sadhguru, said that we should not use the word “raising” for infants, because that word is more suitable for cattle. 

Many people found this statement deep and philosophical. But if we think about it carefully, it raises an important question. 

What exactly is the role of parents in a child’s life? 

Unlike cattle, a human child is completely dependent on parents for many years. A newborn baby cannot walk, eat, protect itself, or survive without constant care. 

Parents spend years feeding, teaching, guiding, and supporting their children. This process is commonly called raising a child.

 

Whether we use the word raising, nurturing, or parenting, the reality remains the same. Children need care, love, and guidance to become independent adults. 

The bigger issue is not the choice of words. The real issue is how children are taught to think. 

 

A child is not born with fixed beliefs about religion, politics, society, or culture. These ideas are learned from parents, teachers, books, friends, and increasingly from social media and influential public figures (Heroism). Therefore, parents have a responsibility to encourage curiosity rather than blind obedience. 

 

As children grow up, they should be encouraged to ask questions.  

 

Every scientific discovery and every social reform began because someone dared to ask questions. 

Curiosity and critical thinking help society move forward. But today, many topics that encourage questioning and scientific thinking like Darwin’s theory of evolution are being removed from NCERT textbooks. Coz we have easier way to understand same from our religious text.

 

Children should also be taught empathy, kindness, compassion, and respect for others. Equally important, they should learn how to evaluate claims using evidence and reason. When a child asks a difficult question, the answer should not be, “Believe it because I said so.” Instead, parents should help them understand how to think, not what to think. 

 

This is where many self-proclaimed spiritual leaders and godman like him become influential. Offering advice about health, meditation, or personal well being. 

In this case, podcaster did not challenge or point out that, in the context of parenting, words like raising and cultivation are often used with similar intent.  

Most of these reels and shorts are watched with only half attention, as viewers are often in a hurry to consume more content and get their next dopamine hit. In this process, the subconscious mind picks up the podcaster's silence, admiration, or expressions like 'aww,' creating the impression that something extraordinary has been said.

Simply because, these interview were not designed to critically examine the statement, but for the PR to present the speaker as larger than life.

That is why critical thinking is important. Instead of accepting a statement because it sounds philosophical or comes from a famous figure, we should ask a simple question. 

Does is actually make sense ?

 

When conversations focus more on promoting a public figure than on questioning their ideas, the personality can become larger than the ideas. 

 

However, problems begin when the followers stop questioning and start accepting every statement as an unquestionable truth. When admiration turns into blind faith, critical thinking disappears. 

 

A questioning mind is a healthy mind. If parents do not help children develop the ability to think critically, someone else like him will shape their worldview. 

 

The goal is not to produce a child who simply obeys, but an adult who can think, reason, and engage confidently with different ideas & defend your ideology in front of a rational person. 

 

Not to forget how questions got tough, when Sadguru faced a rational mind of Javed Akhtar.

 

Click below link to see the debate between him and Javed Akhtar 

Debate video link

Next time, choose your heroes and influencers carefully. Ask yourself whether their ideas truly make sense, or whether you are being impressed by clever wordplay and manipulation.