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Video Information: 09.04.23, Bhagavad Gita, Greater Noida
Context:
Who is a real Guru?
How can the Guru help the disciple?
How to be close to the Guru?
Why is it important for a student to bring their problems to the Guru?
What is true Love?
Music Credits: Milind Date
~~~~~
Be a part of the Live Sessions: https://acharyaprashant.org/en/enquir...
Want to read Acharya Prashant's Books?
Get Free Delivery: https://acharyaprashant.org/en/books?...
~~~~~
Video Information: 09.04.23, Bhagavad Gita, Greater Noida
Context:
Who is a real Guru?
How can the Guru help the disciple?
How to be close to the Guru?
Why is it important for a student to bring their problems to the Guru?
What is true Love?
Music Credits: Milind Date
~~~~~
Category
📚
LearningTranscript
00:00There could be several factors that may prevent an individual from posing the appropriate
00:10question such as lack of clarity of the problem at hand, insufficient knowledge of the subject
00:17matter, apprehension about appearing ignorant in front of others, a language barrier or
00:24the complexity of the issue leading to confusion about how to formulate the correct enquiry.
00:31What we have seen in the verse today, it became quite apparent that Arjuna's queries stem
00:36from his preconceived notions which Krishna being an astute teacher immediately discerns
00:42to be a result of Arjuna's attachment to his kith and kin.
00:46This leads to biases and prevents him from posing the correct questions.
00:51Now it begs the question whether a realized guru or a master can accurately perceive
00:56the situation and provide the correct guidance even when the disciple is unable to ask the
01:01relevant question due to any of the aforementioned reasons.
01:06Is it necessary for a teacher to have a personal understanding of the disciple to comprehend
01:11the underlying reason behind their question or can a perceptive teacher identify it regardless
01:18of their familiarity with the disciple's enquiry into the subject?
01:22It will require a certain intimacy with the student because even if the student were not
01:33to pose his real problem accurately, the student must at least come up with the false problem.
01:47For lack of intent or understanding, the student cannot come up with the real problem.
01:55But is the student intimate enough with the teacher to come up with at least the false
02:01problem?
02:04It is the description of the false problem in chapter 1 that allows Krishna to come up
02:11with the greatness of the discourse in chapter 2.
02:15However, an entire chapter is devoted to Arjuna's narration of the problem as he perceives
02:22it.
02:23It is not without reason that chapter 1 exists.
02:28So the student has to come up with something, if not everything.
02:35You may not know what the real problem is and that is okay.
02:39But you in your own world do know something about your problem or at least you think you
02:46know something about your problem, right?
02:50Present that, lay that out.
02:53And Arjuna has done that in sufficient detail.
02:56That detailing is needed.
02:58And that detailing in some sense becomes the eligibility of the student to receive a solution.
03:09I do not know a bit as a student, I am ignorant, right?
03:11I do not know a bit about where I am coming from, what my real problem is, what the solution
03:16looks like, what the nature of the ego is, what the nature of my inner entanglements
03:22is.
03:23I know nothing.
03:24But still I have some vague feeling, a nebulous perception of the problem I have at least.
03:30That much everybody has, right?
03:32There is nobody who will say, oh I do not know a bit about my situation.
03:37So whatever you know, just present it, just present it, needless, irrespective of how
03:48it would look to the teacher, irrespective of the kind of impression you would cast on
03:58the teacher.
04:02And that sounds simple, but is quite rare to find.
04:13The student has his own need to look good.
04:20So even if he comes to the teacher, he presents a very sanitized and decorated version of
04:30the problem or the situation.
04:35And even if the teacher, as you said, is perceptive enough and smells a rat and therefore tries
04:43to dig deeper into the student's interiors, the student often responds with resistance.
04:53A bit of resistance you find in Arjuna as well, correct?
04:56But that resistance is limited.
04:59So there are no absolutes here.
05:01It's all a relative thing.
05:04Who knows what would have happened had Arjuna offered stiffer resistance.
05:11So the teacher obviously is prepared to somehow bear some kind of resistance, but the teacher
05:20also honors the very principle of Maya.
05:26The principle of Maya is founded on free choice.
05:34And that kind of wild card Maya always has, that's the very condition behind her existence,
05:49which is that I will disappear only when I choose to.
05:57She addresses the truth.
05:58You cannot just come to me and declare me to be false and ask me to vanish.
06:04I will disappear when you lure me, when you convince me, when you lovingly embrace me,
06:15when you make me consent in my own free will.
06:20Are you getting it?
06:24So that kind of consent the student has to provide.
06:30Otherwise the teacher is helpless, irrespective of whether you want to call the teacher as
06:35realized or illuminated or perceptive or whatever, antaryami, doesn't matter.
06:44The point is not the capability of the teacher.
06:51The point is the consent of the student.
06:55The teacher might be very capable, but if the consent is not forthcoming, the teacher
07:00would not operate.
07:03Acharya ji, love can be seen as a means of acquiring knowledge.
07:15When we love a particular topic, we may read books, watch videos and seek out experiences
07:21that allow us to deepen our understanding of that topic.
07:26In a way, knowledge can deepen our experience of love.
07:28When we have knowledge and understanding of something, we are better able to appreciate
07:33and love it.
07:34As love and knowledge leads to the path of freedom, how can we define the true love to
07:38acquire knowledge on the subject which is worth acquiring for self?
07:42It begins from an inner point.
07:47True love does not just stretch out its hands to acquire something from the world, whether
07:54it is knowledge or wealth or a person or fame or somebody's body, no.
08:01Love in its right form starts from an inward glance.
08:13It's a very, very inner cry.
08:20I do not like the way I am and hence I am looking out towards the world.
08:32I want to be helped or I want to extend help.
08:39So there is love that is just desire and desire is blind towards the self.
08:47Desire says, I do not want to see where I am coming from.
08:53I have no interiority.
08:57I just want to look outwards and feel fulfilled.
09:04I have no real knowledge of my own constitution.
09:10I do not know who I am, but I have some vague idea that if I get that thing there in that
09:18market, then I'll feel better.
09:23That's desire.
09:24Now that's not love.
09:25We said love starts from a very inner point.
09:29Desire does not start from an inner point.
09:32Desire from its very inception is looking outwards.
09:35If you ask the desirous one, but why exactly do you want it, please tell me about your
09:40inner state first, the desirous one will find it awkward.
09:47No good salesman would ever ask a prospective customer this question.
09:52If you go to a shop and you say I want that particular item, no salesperson would risk
09:59the sale by asking you, but why exactly do you want that?
10:03Chances are if that question is posed, the deal would be lost.
10:10That's the thing with desire.
10:12It can operate only in an environment of inner ignorance.
10:16It does not look at itself.
10:18The intent is not there.
10:20The very honesty to first of all know where I'm coming from and who am I and therefore
10:24why do I want that thing?
10:26That is not there.
10:28True love begins by looking at oneself.
10:32I'm not all right.
10:33I want to be okay.
10:36Now I'm looking at all the resources possible to me.
10:40How can I be okay?
10:43So that's the distinction between love and love.
10:47Have I succeeded in?
10:51Yes, sir.
10:52Pretty much.
10:54I was a little bit confused.
10:55Now it's clear.
10:56Thank you so much.
10:57I'm glad.
11:01I have something related to the first part of the previous question where you said that
11:07the thing is about consent from the student side.
11:13And I guess this is confusing to me because sometimes I feel like that in some sense my
11:23problem is just that I just need to give my consent and come to you.
11:30It's not about some particular problem or something like that.
11:35But then it's a strange thing because then I just have to do it.
11:39But I never know what to come with like in particular.
11:45Then you can just make something up and come.
11:51That's how lovers operate.
11:53They are great liars.
11:54All lovers.
11:55Don't you know?
11:58The man never goes to the woman quoting a genuine reason.
12:02Why have you come to me today?
12:04Because it is sunny.
12:07Why have you come to me today?
12:09Because it is cloudy.
12:11So fake a reason.
12:14How is that a problem?
12:15Yeah, it's true.
12:19It has to do with what you said earlier about you want to seem like you're on top of things
12:26so you have a good question.
12:28You see, we said that Krishna in some sense kidnaps Arjuna.
12:36That implies a lack of consent, does it not?
12:42But then you need to grant your consent at least to the degree of allowing yourself to
12:51be kidnapped.
12:52You see, it's a complicated thing.
12:56Had the consent been absolute, you would not need to be kidnapped.
13:01You would come walking on your own, correct?
13:06But you need to be kidnapped because the consent is partial.
13:12So it's an in-between thing.
13:17The student has to provide at least as much confidence as the teacher needs to kidnap
13:26him.
13:27And it's not about the teacher's own well-being.
13:32It's about, as we said, the law of Maya, the law of free will.
13:38The willingness has to come across at least to a certain extent, even if there is not
13:44complete consent.
13:47At least something.
13:48Otherwise, the teacher will say, no, no, no, no, the law of choice forbids me from touching
13:53this student.
13:55Yeah, I mean, when we look at the whole context of the Gita, I mean, in some sense,
14:08Arjuna is very, sometimes when I read these verses, I get the feeling that he's just there,
14:15you know, but as we've spoken about it, it's not like he's very willing.
14:21It's almost like just lucky to be there in some sense.
14:26I mean, yes, he has chosen Krishna, but sometimes it seems like kind of a, well, he's lucky
14:35to have had that choice, you know.
14:38And both these things go together, please see, irrespective of how daring or how wise
14:47your choice is, if as a result of your choice, you get the right teacher, you should still
14:52consider yourself lucky because none of your choices can be so meritorious that they actually
15:04deserve to bring the teacher to you.
15:07So on one hand, yes, it is extremely important that the student makes the right choices.
15:13On the other hand, if he gets the teacher, it is not really because of his choices.
15:19There is serendipity and grace involved.
15:25So we have talked of that a lot of times and it's such a beautiful thing to dwell into
15:31the interplay of grace and choice.
15:39And they do not operate independently of each other.
15:43Grace obviously is far, far, far bigger than the choice and the chooser.
15:47At the same time, if you do not exercise your choices daringly enough and may I say lavishly
15:57enough, you have not provided your consent.
16:05So your choices have to indicate your openness.
16:12I often take the example of that little chap, five years of age, who wants that huge chocolate
16:19box and the chocolate box costs, because it's a huge one and imported one and a lot
16:28of things.
16:29Maybe it has a golden foil or something.
16:34So it costs 10,000 rupees and the little one can gather at most rupees 150.
16:44But this 150 he has gathered with all the resources he could muster.
16:54So his little piggy bank he broke and he borrowed from this, that and he saved money from whatever
17:01little pocket money he used to get and such things and after two months he was able to
17:06accumulate 150.
17:09And he takes this 150 and goes to the shopkeeper and he says, here, now give me that box.
17:18Now that shopkeeper is Krishan.
17:20He knows very well that the price of the box far exceeds anything that the little one can
17:26keep on the table.
17:29But what he sees is not the amount on the table, but what you have done to bring that
17:35amount.
17:36The little chap is little.
17:39So whatsoever he does, even the biggest thing that he does would be little.
17:44But has he done his best?
17:46That's the word.
17:47Have you done your best?
17:49It's not a matter of an absolute benchmark.
17:51Have you done the best possible to you?
17:55Have you done the, have you risked everything that you have?
17:59That's what is needed.
18:00And when that happens, then grace descends.
18:04So grace, you could say in some sense is something that you can make happen.
18:12Grace is not something that happens coincidentally, randomly.
18:17Grace is a function of your own willingness.
18:20They say it may rain, but you have to keep your umbrella aside.
18:28The willingness to at least receive, be a recipient has to be there.
18:35Otherwise you will remain dry and untouched.
18:41But that's a strange point also, because when we talk about doing as much as we can do,
18:52but then there's the other side of it also, which is that for in my case, for example,
18:59that I threw myself to the work very blindly and very consistently.
19:05And you know, it does work, but at some point I realized that I had been very unmindful
19:11of the center I was working from.
19:14But in some sense, that was the whole point, because it was working so well that it felt
19:19like I didn't have to question it, that I thought I was doing the right thing because
19:25the partial result was there.
19:27So what exactly is your definition of something working well?
19:34How do you know that it is really working well?
19:37And if it is, then for whom?
19:41Well, I guess the thing is that it feels like there's no even space to doubt anything, you
19:49know.
19:50So what if, first of all, the doubts have to be scrapped from the bottom, the sticky
19:57bottom of consciousness so that they can be cleaned?
20:03What if there are no doubts?
20:05That only means that the doubts are sticking very closely to the surface of the mind container.
20:15And when you come to the right environment, then there is somebody with a scrubber, and
20:22then there is a lot of motion and friction, which involves sometimes a bit of pain, sometimes
20:28a bit of fun, and the doubts are made to arise.
20:35What if the unavailability of doubts simply means that the doubts have gone latent or
20:47dormant?
20:48Well, that's what it probably is in most of the cases.
20:54That's a little bit of advice.
21:03Just because everything feels well, do not turn complacent.
21:13Because we are all, without exception, tough nuts and chronic cases.
21:24Quick redemption is just too good to last.
21:30It just cannot come so quickly and so easily to anybody.
21:38When we were writing the JEE, which is an entrance exam to the institution I did my
21:46engineering from, if we could solve a problem too easily, that meant that we have done it
21:56wrongly.
22:02This one carries four marks or five marks.
22:05It's just inconceivable that I could crack it in three minutes flat.
22:10Not possible.
22:11If it's happening too easily for you, then it's not happening.
22:18One has to pass through a lot before even the slightest gain can be made.
22:27It feels like that you have to actually want to know even when you don't want to know.
22:41You have to have, if I may say, an obsession with detecting Maya.
22:53Because she's lurking, she's around.
22:57And if she's invisible, that's a bigger problem than having her in plain sight.
23:05If the enemy stands right in front of you, that's a problem, but a manageable one.
23:10At least you can situate the enemy and do something.
23:14What if the enemy is around but not visible?
23:18That's what.
23:19So when you feel everything is alright and there is no enemy, just because you cannot
23:23see her, know that you are in deeper trouble.
23:31And she will be around.
23:32Let nobody be smug about that.
23:38Even those who have dealt with her all their life have gone on to say, even in their last
23:46breath, that she is, she still is.
23:52She still is.
23:54And that's the thing about their proximity with the truth.
23:59They will be truthful even about Maya.
24:02They will not say that she is no more.
24:06Even if they have worshipped the truth all their life, in their last breath, they have
24:10said, oh, she still is.
24:14She still is.
24:18Yes, I think I can work with this for now.
24:38Wonderful.
24:40Yes, we can.
24:41We will see you again.