Text or Call? || Acharya Prashant (2023)

Acharya Prashant

Full Video: Cellphone addiction and loss of self-esteem || Acharya Prashant, at Cummins College, Nagpur (2022) Link:      • Cellphone addiction and loss of self-...    ➖➖➖➖➖➖  ‍♂️ Want to meet Acharya Prashant? Be a part of the Live Sessions: https://acharyaprashant.org/hi/enquir...  ⚡ Want Acharya Prashant’s regular updates? Join WhatsApp Channel: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Va6Z...   Want to read Acharya Prashant's Books? Get Free Delivery: https://acharyaprashant.org/en/books?...   Want to accelerate Acharya Prashant’s work? Contribute: https://acharyaprashant.org/en/contri...   Want to work with Acharya Prashant? Apply to the Foundation here: https://acharyaprashant.org/en/hiring...  ➖➖➖➖➖➖  Video Information: Acharya Prashant shows us how to avoid cellphone addiction and loss of self-esteem.   Context: ~ Does cell-phone addiction lead to self-esteem? ~ How to deal with cell-phone addiction? ~ Are the current generation heavily dependent on cell-phones? ~ How to build real and long-lasting relationship with people? ~ Is face-to-face conversation better than texting? ~ Can technology replace humans?  Music Credits: Milind Date  ~~~~~

Transcript

00:00 Internet or Google come as a handy support, a backup. If you do not know what

00:12 to do or how to respond, you can rely on them. But in real life, real-time

00:18 situations, that doesn't happen. You cannot depend on Google to respond to

00:23 someone who is standing right in front of you. Right? So this is something

00:30 you must be cautious of. It's a phenomena widely experienced. Technology cannot be

00:44 a substitute for real-life interaction. And planned statements or responses can

00:57 never carry the authenticity of something that is spontaneous.

01:06 Communication through text appears safer but is also duller. It does not carry the

01:19 warmth and liveliness of a face-to-face thing. And it can become a habit to hide

01:30 behind text. Right? Do not let that become a habit. That habit simply means fear. Do

01:42 not protect fear. If there is something that cannot be said face to face, ask

01:51 yourself, does it deserve to be said in writing? The same phone that you use to

02:03 text people can also be used to talk. And it's not as if texting necessarily saves

02:13 time. You can get into an endless exchange of text messages and that can go

02:21 on for two hours. Does that not happen? Text, text, text, text, text, text. And when you are

02:29 not texting, you are waiting for the other's text. And WhatsApp is showing

02:39 Rajiv is typing. And you are waiting, what is he typing? What is he typing?

02:46 What is he typing? Even before he has pressed the send button, you are already

02:56 shadowboxing. You have already come up with five possible options. This is what

03:04 he might be writing. And if he writes this, I'll reply this way. How is that

03:10 saving time? Please tell me. There can be instances when text can save time. Yes,

03:17 obviously. So you don't want to go through the entire process of ringing

03:21 someone up and it's not worth it. So simply write two words and get done with

03:26 it. So that is all okay. But if a matter can be finished off in two minutes, five

03:36 minutes, directly by conversing with that person, either face to face or on

03:42 call. What is the need to hide behind text? Similarly, what is the need to hide

03:51 behind knowledge? External knowledge I mean. Google knowledge. Those who have

04:01 known have said that you know only when you live. Your knowledge is your

04:11 knowledge only if you are living that knowledge. If knowing does not become

04:18 being, then there is no knowing. Knowing must turn into being. Can Google

04:32 knowledge turn into your being? You can quickly Google something and spit out

04:39 the fact or the information and be done with it. It will not become your life. It

04:45 will not get into the depth of your mind. Won't help much. Use technology to your

04:56 advantage. Do not use it to handicap yourself. Technology must be used to do

05:09 what you cannot do. Technology must not become a substitute for what you already

05:18 can healthily do. If I have the benefit of technology, what should I develop for

05:30 myself? A car or a crutch? Crutch you understand? What is crutch? The things

05:46 that you use to assist yourself in walking.

05:52 Now you have these two feet already but they cannot take you at 60 kmph. So let

06:01 technology give you a car. The car is furthering your power now. It is

06:09 furthering your ability. These two legs cannot take you beyond the speed. Instead

06:18 if you use technology to develop very advanced crutches with AI and feel proud

06:25 of it, what have you done to yourself?

06:30 Instead of augmenting the capacity of the legs, you have debilitated the legs.

06:39 Maybe with your legs you were able to go at least at 10 kmph. Now with the

06:46 assistance of technology you are going at 2 kmph. Now that brings us back to the

06:53 fundamental question of who is the user of technology and that's where internal

06:59 liberation lies. No technology will be of use if you are internally not free, not

07:08 luminous. Whatsoever is given to you, you will use it to your own disadvantage.

07:16 You have heard the old story of the monkey with the sword. Right? Those were

07:26 bygone times. So all that the monkey could have was a sword. But these are

07:34 times of advanced technology. The monkey can have an ICBM tipped with a nuclear

07:43 weapon. What will the monkey do? The monkey has been given great technology.

07:54 What will the monkey use it for? The same thing that his ancestral monkey used it

08:05 for. What was the sword used for? The monkey was given the sword. Actually he

08:12 picked it up. Did he use it for any creative purpose? If we remain monkeys

08:25 within, whatsoever comes to us, powers, rights, knowledge, technology, we will use

08:34 it to our own detriment, our own destruction. But we don't understand this.

08:40 We think just because we have something, it is for the better. No, not necessarily.

08:48 It all depends on who you are and that's a central Vedantic question. Who are you?

08:56 If you are not right, whatsoever you have will be just wrong for you. First of all

09:05 you have to be right within and then whatever you have can be used rightly.

09:13 You go back to the epics. You think of all the classical villains, Ravan, Kansa,

09:27 Duryodhana, Hiranyakashipu. They had a lot. Ravan was the superpower of his times.

09:40 Lanka of gold, so much weaponry as well and he had a lot of knowledge too.

09:51 Hiranyakashyapu had a lot. He had been gifted with blessings. Duryodhana was so

10:07 powerful. The question is what were these people using their power and knowledge

10:14 and money for? Were they villains because they didn't have anything? Why are they

10:24 still remembered as the topmost baddies? Why? Because they didn't have much? No,

10:35 they had a lot but were operating whatever they had from a bad center. So,

10:45 it's the center within that means everything. If the center is false then

10:52 all technological progress will simply mean climate change, extinction of

11:00 species, actually the sixth mass extinction phase in which we have

11:06 already entered. Now this kind of mass extinction could not have happened to

11:12 the caveman, to the ancient man. Why? Because he didn't have technology.

11:19 Internally we have remained that same old caveman but additionally today that

11:27 caveman has a lot of technology and power. So, he has used that technology,

11:35 that power just to finish himself off.

11:41 you

11:43 [MUSIC PLAYING]

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