Take This Simple Step for a Great 2026 | Sadhguru

The dhobi was at the guru's door. This donkey, can you make a man out of him? Guru said, I will make a man out of him. He came out as a grown-up man. He's become the head of the village. The dhobi came. People came, thrashed him nicely. The man became totally bitter and dejected. Guru said, this happened. There was a guru. A man came to him and at his doorstep, he came and said, oh master, I have a son who is twenty years of age. He's good for nothing. He's a donkey. And this donkey, can you make a man out of him, something out of him? The guru laughed and said, okay, bring your donkey. I will make a man out of him. On the street, a dhobi was passing. For those of you who are not from Indian origin, a dhobi means a washerman in India. Traditionally, Indian washermen always used a donkey as their pickup truck. All their cargo or clothes were always transported on a donkey. And he heard this, wow, this man is going to make a donkey into a human being. And I don't have children. This has been my only grouse in my life. I don't have a child. I don't have a son. And then, as soon as the other man left, the dhobi came and knocked on the guru's door and said, you have to do this. He held on to his feet. And he said, you have to do this. I have many donkeys. You must make one of my donkeys into a man and I will have a son. My life's dream will be fulfilled. Guru said, what is this? How can I make your donkey into a man? No, no, no. I know you promised somebody. I know you can do it. You can't fool me now. You have to do it. So the guru tried to dissuade him in so many ways. But every day in the morning, the dhobi was at the guru's door. You have to make one of my donkeys into a man. I need a son. Please don't say no. After a few weeks, not able to bear this man's thing, he said, okay, bring your donkey. Let's see what we can do. So he went home and looked, which is the most handsome donkey? Come on, donkeys can be handsome too. Most of the time they are. So he brought the best donkey and gave it to the guru and please, when can I collect my son? He said, it'll take ninety days. Ninety days? I thought you can do it in a day. How long did your mother take? Nine months. Ninety days is okay, go. So the guru's idea was ninety days means this guy may forget or lose his focus. Something will happen. Many things can happen in ninety days. So he took the donkey into his barn and on the dot, on the ninetieth day, the dhobi was at his door with garlands ready. The guru saw this and he didn't expect this. He thought he had forgotten about this thing. Then he said, what to do? Where is my son? Oh, your son, you know, when I converted the donkey into a man, he came out as a grown up man and he walked away to a village, which is three days of walk from here. And there he's become the head of the village. This is the name of the village. This is the name of the man. Immediately the dhobi set forth. Three days walk, doesn't matter. He wants to find his son. He got there, inquired, where is the head of the village? Somebody pointed out where he is. He went there and he said, oh, my son, how are you doing? Come on, let's go home. That man said, what? Who, who are you? He said, I know, it just happened like that. You were a donkey. He said, what? You're calling me a donkey? He said, no, my son, you just, you look like your grandfather. You resemble. You've seen this always. Whenever a child is born, which is just like that, like a tomato, people say, oh, look at this, it resembles me. Every father, every mother doing it all the time. Grandparents, of course. So you, you know, you resemble your grandfather so much. Please, let's go home. That man said, who is this fool? Take him out. So people came, thrashed him nicely and threw him out of the village. The man became totally bitter and dejected. He walked all the way back three days, came to the guru and said, that wretched son of mine, he has no gratitude. He was a donkey and I made him into a human being. He has no gratitude. It's best not to have children. I really disappointed. It is this. So guru said, if you want, I will again convert him into donkey. You take your donkey home. Come after three days. Three days later, he came, he handed over the donkey and the man happily went home. You must understand, if you are a donkey, we can't make you something else. We can make you maybe little stronger donkey, a more disciplined donkey. Maybe we can do little makeup, decorate you a little bit. That's about it. But once you've come as a human being, there is no limit to what you can become. Do you want to explore this or do you want to do tidbits with your life? This is a choice that you have. Right now, we are talking about one year coming to an end and the new year starting its process. So what resolution you should take? What should you do in the coming year? So the important thing is our life longing to become something more. If you were a different creature other than a human being, how much more was very clear? How much can a tree become? How much can a tiger become? How much can an elephant become? How much can any creature become is very clearly demarcated. That is essentially nature has drawn two lines for them within which they live and die. The problem with the human being is that there is no top line. How much ever you become, there seems to be something more to do. So these resolutions that people take is essentially to become something little more. One important thing that all of us should do if we want to enhance our lives into a bigger possibility than what it is right now, the most important thing is to take charge of the two instruments that we have, our physical body and our psychological or mental faculties. If you don't take charge of these two things, everything will be accidental. When life is accidental, what are you going to resolve? There's no such thing. So it's very important that these two things must be taken charge of, to take charge of the body and to take charge of the mind, these two things if you do. Now, if you resolve to do something, well, there is a pretty good possibility that you could get there. If these two things are not in your hands, they do their own things, then don't waste your time resolving to do this and that, because none of those things will happen. If you think this life is a precious one, if you think this is a valuable life, you must act now. That's why I'm saying forty-eight days, twice a day, some simple practice. Inner engineering would be good, but it takes some commitment to go through that. Isha Kriya is simple, twelve minutes a day, morning, evening. Just fix this. Because instead of taking up resolutions that will disappear by tomorrow morning for most people, do something that is concrete and you're doing it. It's something that you have to do. If you say, I'll give up my anger, I will do this, I'll do that. I know where it will go. But morning, evening, I'm going to do this simple practice. It's a simple way of fixing it.