Isha Foundation founder Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev sent shockwaves among his followers when he was rushed for brain surgery in March last year. For the first time since, Sadhguru has opened up about the life-threatening medical episode that ended with emergency surgery and a six-hour fight for survival.
In a recent Instagram video titled “Sadhguru’s Second Brain Surgery – Undisclosed Details”, the 67-year-old revealed that a freak accident involving a “big monkey” ultimately led to massive bleeding in his brain. The accident resulted in two surgeries and a near-death experience for the spiritual guru.
Sadhguru explains what happened
Recalling the incident, Sadhguru said he had been swimming with his daughter in a pool while recovering from a previous medical procedure. “I just came up and sat on a chair. A big monkey came and wanted to go inside because there were lots of fruits. My daughter instinctively screamed at it. The monkey turned around and came at her with its mouth open,” he said.
To protect his daughter, Sadhguru rushed to grab a walking stick inside the house but ended up crashing into a closed glass door. “Somebody had closed the door. I went and banged full speed into the glass,” he said. “The glass made such a big bang that the monkey ran away. So the purpose was served, but my head was cracked,” Sadhguru further said.
Initially, he brushed off the injury, deciding to wait and see if any symptoms appeared. He managed to complete his scheduled programs before flying to Coimbatore. It was only after undergoing an MRI that doctors detected severe bleeding. The Isha Foundation later confirmed that the MRI showed “massive bleeding outside the brain and below the bone”.
But the real scare was yet to come.
Though the second surgery was successful, complications arose on the third day post-operation. “Every cell in the body went through a storm,” Sadhguru recalled. “This happens only if you have sepsis or some serious infection, but I had no infection. Doctors couldn’t figure it out,” he said.
‘Closed my eyes and became more conscious’
What followed was a six-hour stretch where Sadhguru teetered between life and death. “I closed my eyes and became a lot more conscious,” he explained. “I could feel every cell seeping away… but I held on. An hour and a half later, I turned around,” he said.
And just like that, the man who had been declared nearly gone by a room full of specialists was suddenly on the mend. In true Sadhguru fashion, the spiritual leader didn’t just recover, he bounced back on a motorcycle within two months.
