Sadhguru argues that human likes and dislikes are fundamental chains that bind consciousness and limit our potential. Rather than obsessing over what we prefer, the deeper question is whether the universe—the totality around us—accepts and supports us. He frames existence as a binary choice: we can either function as conscious limbs of the Creator, or remain fragmented bundles of thoughts, emotions, and opinions. This reframing shifts focus from personal preference to universal alignment, suggesting that true freedom comes from transcending the constant filtering of experience through like and dislike.
What Does It Mean That Your Likes and Dislikes Bind You?
Sadhguru begins with a simple yet profound observation: the likes and dislikes we hold are chains. Most people spend their entire lives curating existence according to personal preference—choosing what to eat, where to go, whom to spend time with, what to think about—all filtered through the lens of "do I like this or not?" This constant filtering, he suggests, actually narrows our consciousness rather than expanding it.
When you are bound by likes and dislikes, you are essentially imprisoned by your own preferences. You become reactive rather than responsive. A person attached to liking only certain foods will suffer when those foods are unavailable. A person who dislikes certain people will create suffering for themselves and others through avoidance and judgment. The binding is not in the external world; it is in the psychological contraction that happens every time you divide reality into "what I like" and "what I don't like."
This is not about forcing yourself to like everything indiscriminately. Rather, Sadhguru points to a state where preferences exist but do not possess you. You can have a preference for certain foods without being enslaved by that preference. You can notice that you dislike certain situations without that dislike contracting your entire being.
Why Does the Universe's "Like" Matter More Than Yours?
Sadhguru pivots the conversation with a striking reframe: "The question is not about what you like. The question is about does everything around you like you?" This inversion is central to his teaching. While Western psychology and consumer culture encourage you to ask "What do I want? What do I like? What makes me happy?"—Sadhguru is asking a different question entirely: Are you in harmony with your environment? Does the universe support you?
This is not metaphorical hand-waving. If you are chronically stressed, your body is not "liking" you—your physiology is in dysregulation. If people consistently avoid you or conflict with you, your relationships are not "liking" you. If you experience constant struggle and resistance in your endeavors, the universe is not flowing with you. These are practical indicators that something in your alignment is off.
When you operate entirely from personal preference, you often end up working against the grain of your own nature and the larger systems around you. Sadhguru suggests that the deeper alignment comes when you ask: "How can I function in a way that is in harmony with everything around me?" rather than "How can I make everything around me conform to my preferences?"
How Do You Exist as a Limb of the Creator?
Sadhguru presents a stark choice: every moment, you can either exist as a limb of the Creator, or as a bundle of thoughts, emotions, and opinions. This distinction cuts to the heart of his teaching.
To exist as a limb of the Creator means to function as an extension of something larger than your individual preference structure. A finger does not have its own agenda separate from the hand. The hand does not operate at odds with the arm. They work as an integrated whole. Similarly, a human being—as a limb of the universe or Creator—would function not primarily from personal preference but from an alignment with the larger intelligence that animates existence.
This does not mean passivity or loss of individuality. A limb has specific gifts and functions. Your individuality—your unique skills, perspective, and nature—are the very means by which you serve as a limb. But the orientation shifts. Instead of asking "What do I want?" you ask "What is needed? How can my gifts serve?"
Conversely, to exist as a bundle of thoughts, emotions, and opinions is to be fragmented. You are constantly narrating your experience, judging it, contracting around preferences, defending positions. This bundle operates as a small, separate entity in constant negotiation with the world. It is exhausting because it is perpetually at odds with reality.
What Is the Daily Practice of Releasing Likes and Dislikes?
Sadhguru does not suggest that you suppress preferences or pretend indifference. Rather, the practice involves noticing the mechanism of like and dislike without being controlled by it. Throughout the day, you can observe moments when you contract around preference: "I like this situation" or "I dislike that person." At these moments, you have a choice: you can reinforce the binding by acting from that contraction, or you can widen your perspective.
One practical inquiry is to notice: "What is the cost of this preference? How much of my energy and attention does it consume?" Often you will discover that the energy expense of maintaining likes and dislikes far exceeds any actual benefit. You might prefer a certain outcome at work, and that preference costs you sleep, focus, and peace of mind for weeks.
Another approach is to notice that every "like" carries a hidden "dislike" and vice versa. If you like success, you are implicitly averse to failure. If you dislike discomfort, you are implicitly attached to comfort. This duality keeps you perpetually bouncing between desire and aversion, neither of which is freedom.
The invitation is to gradually widen the bandwidth of your acceptance. Not through gritted-teeth stoicism, but through genuine curiosity about what happens when you allow more of life to be simply as it is, without the constant filtering through preference.
How Does This Relate to Spiritual Maturity?
Sadhguru's teaching here points to a marker of spiritual maturity: the decreasing dominance of likes and dislikes in your decision-making and experience. As someone matures spiritually, they do not lose preferences—they lose the sense that their wellbeing depends on the world conforming to those preferences.
This maturity is visible in how someone handles adversity. An immature person encounters an unwanted situation and contracts in complaint: "I don't like this. This shouldn't be happening." A more mature person encounters the same situation and asks: "What is this situation requiring of me? How can I respond with wisdom and integrity?" The situation has not changed, but the person's relationship to it has transformed.
Similarly, spiritual maturity brings an increasing sense of ease in uncertainty. Because you are not constantly trying to steer reality toward your preferences, you have energy to respond creatively and intuitively to what actually arises. You become more supple, more attuned, less brittle.
What Does "Universe Approval" Look Like in Practice?
When you are in genuine alignment with the universe—when "everything around you likes you," as Sadhguru puts it—certain things become apparent. There is a quality of ease in your efforts. Things tend to work out. You encounter the resources you need. People are drawn to support you not because you demanded it, but because your energy is not colliding with theirs.
This does not mean life becomes frictionless or painless. Rather, the friction and pain that arise feel aligned with something larger. You are not fighting yourself and the world simultaneously. You are engaged in something that makes sense, even when it is difficult.
Practically speaking, universe approval might manifest as: your body functioning with greater vitality, your relationships deepening, your work gaining traction, unexpected opportunities appearing, a sense of being held rather than constantly bracing. These are not rewards for being "good"—they are natural consequences of being in alignment rather than in constant internal opposition.
Where to Go From Here
Sadhguru's central invitation is to experiment with the shift from "What do I like?" to "Am I in harmony?" Take one week and notice: How much of your suffering comes from wanting reality to be different from how it is? How much energy does defending your likes and dislikes consume? What would become possible if you functioned as an extension of something larger rather than as a separate bundle of opinions?
The goal is not to achieve some impossible state of indifference. The goal is freedom—freedom from the constant internal negotiation, freedom to respond creatively to life, freedom to align with the intelligence that runs the universe. That freedom becomes available precisely when you stop insisting that the universe conform to your preferences, and instead ask how you can function as its conscious limb.
