This September, Sadhguru, founder of Isha Foundation, set off on a 10,000-mile journey, across the United States to discover the spiritual side of America. In this edition of the ‘Of Motorcycles and a Mystic’, which kicked off on 17th September 20, Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev traversed through 16 states with the goal of delving deeper into the history, culture and the mysteries of Indigenous Peoples in the country. He drove via Missouri, Illinois, Wyoming, Utah and beyond.
At one time, more than 10 million Indigenous Peoples lived in the United States as we know it. But centuries of wars and conquests have led to them being expelled from their homelands. According to the US Census Bureau, Indigenous Peoples constitute just around 2% of the country’s population at present.
During these weeks of travel, the Sadhguru and his team visited many landmarks along the way, including the Grand Canyon, Little Bighorn National Monument (Wyoming), Bryce, Zion, Mojave Desert, Mato Tipila, Arches National Parks, and the Custer National Park (Montana) among others.
Sadhguru, who established the Isha Institute of Inner-sciences (III) on the Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee on the Trail of Tears, said, “About seventeen years ago, I came in touch with the certain spiritual aspect of Native Americans in a very powerful way when I was in Tennessee that was probably the most painful moment of my life – I saw such pain, resentment and shame in that space, that the very land that I stood on was soaked with it. I thought we must do something. Because there is pain, because people suffer, the spiritual dimension of the work is important. I’ve been interested in Native American culture for a very long time but my exposure was limited. Now this pandemic gave me freedom from my regular schedules so I decided this is the time to do it. And being on a motorcycle, I’m socially well distanced from everybody.”
Along the way, Sadhguru spent Indigenous Peoples’ Day on October 12 in conversation with Taboo, a rapper from the Grammy-winning Black Eyed Peas. Taboo is part of Mexican Native American. The founder of Isha Foundation was also invited by Hollywood star Will Smith at his home to meet with his family. “Sadhguru is in town. I have been following him for a while. He wrote a wonderful book called Inner Engineering. I want my family to meet spiritual people, to start interacting with people who are not hooked on the material world,” Will Smith said in a behind-the-scenes video shared by Sadhguru on Instagram.
Last week, Sadhguru also interacted with legendary boxer Mike Tyson ahead of his much-anticipated return to the ring to face Roy Jones Jr. They discussed finding inner peace in a crisis. Sadhguru also featured in “Nas Talks”, hosted by Israeli vlogger Nuseir Yassin, who is popularly known for his Nas Daily vlogs.