Video Information: 14.04.24, IIT-Delhi, Delhi
Context:
~ Why an IITian loses focus—and what's the purpose of life
~ Why is there so much suffering in life?
~ Do we suffer by our own choice?
~ How to avoid pain and suffering?
~ How to be free?
~ How to break our comfort zone?
~ What gives power to change life?
~ What is love?
~ Who dares to take a risk in life?
Music Credits: Milind Date
~~~~~
#acharyaprashant #iitdelhi #mentalhealth #studentsmotivation #election
Context:
~ Why an IITian loses focus—and what's the purpose of life
~ Why is there so much suffering in life?
~ Do we suffer by our own choice?
~ How to avoid pain and suffering?
~ How to be free?
~ How to break our comfort zone?
~ What gives power to change life?
~ What is love?
~ Who dares to take a risk in life?
Music Credits: Milind Date
~~~~~
#acharyaprashant #iitdelhi #mentalhealth #studentsmotivation #election
Category
📚
LearningTranscript
01:00Because there are so many voices who tell you, you should do this for a better life,
01:21you should do this for a better life.
01:23Just that you should not feel obliged to follow something because the one who is giving that
01:30advice holds a certain authority.
01:33If parties do not come up with great manifestos, it is because we, the voters, are not yet
01:40ready for greatness.
01:43If we are parents, if we are parents, we should ask, I'm giving birth to this one, have I
01:48given birth to myself?
01:51Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, my name is Pankaj Mishra and representing Daily Hunt.
01:59And trust me, I was lucky to be able to listen to this very constructive, fruitful conversation
02:08of our predecessors here.
02:11And Acharya Prashanthji has also, in a way, as they say, nailed the issue when it comes
02:21to very sensitive issues pertaining to mental health, pertaining to our own choices that
02:28we make maybe after the school and during the colleges.
02:32And this August presence of the alumni, the family members, young and old, all of them
02:39add strength and value to this interactive session here.
02:44Prashanthji, first of all, I mean, I was sitting in the audience when the last question which
02:50was put to you pertaining to the upcoming elections, it elicited some smiles, some cheer,
02:58and maybe some sort of, ah, yeh kya boozh diya, sort of reaction from the public.
03:03I would like to continue from where my colleague left as of now, that in the political manifesto,
03:12do you believe that we as the citizens, parents, students, should also demand mental health
03:21as part of that manifesto?
03:23Is that possible ever in India?
03:26See, it all depends on the quality of the electorate.
03:36What we demand depends on who we are, first thing.
03:41So, first of all, we require to be educated enough and elevated enough to understand that
03:50the self is the center of all things.
03:54Whether it is the leaders that we choose or the quality that we produce or the mind that
04:01we exhibit or the economy that we run, everything depends on the quality of the self.
04:08And when the audience is educated in these matters, then the audience will force the
04:16parties to suitably elevate their election manifestos.
04:21We must remember that the election manifesto of a particular political party is not just
04:29a reflection of the particular party's ideology.
04:34It is more of a reflection of the audience, the electorate, to whom this manifesto is being served.
04:43If I serve, as an example, if I serve a particularly illuminated manifesto to a very dark audience,
04:56how much support am I going to elicit?
04:58And how many votes am I going to garner?
05:02I serve you a great manifesto, let's say, and you are someone steeped in ignorance.
05:08Would you support me?
05:13My manifesto does not just represent who I am, my manifesto represents who you are.
05:19If parties do not come up with great manifestos, it is because we, the voters, are not yet
05:27ready for greatness.
05:29And if we are ready for greatness, parties will be forced to come up with something more decent.
05:37First thing is education of the electorate.
05:41These are the issues, as I mentioned earlier, Acharya Prashant, that your take on these
05:49very critical issues are, I would say personally, very direct, which is the need of the hour.
05:55And secondly, calling a spade a spade, that India needs to be more educated to choose
06:01their leaders who are like them.
06:05In this regard, again, at the underbelly of the whole situation, that why is it not possible
06:11that we can become such aware voters who can make such choices, again, it circles back
06:19to oneself and depression.
06:22Again, once again, I know that it has been talked a lot about quite recently, quite about it.
06:28I have some data here.
06:30It says close to 200 million Indians could benefit from mental health services, fewer
06:36than 30 million seek care due to limited access and stigma.
06:41If this dichotomy arises, which affects our thinking, which takes our failures as a social stigma,
06:50how important is it that we can overcome it with spirituality?
06:55I think the first and the most important line of defence against any mental disorder
07:02is spirituality itself.
07:05You could say spirituality is another name for mental health.
07:08Only when the mental disorder is due to a physical reason, something to do with the
07:15brain itself, does spirituality turn ineffective.
07:23Then you cannot, if someone is not even in a position to clearly pay attention or to
07:28read or to listen, then obviously spiritual methods won't work.
07:34But otherwise, to a person who is physically alright, spirituality is the code for mental health.
07:43And spirituality does not refer to religious mumbo-jumbo.
07:48Spirituality is simply living with a particular attention, living in a way of self-remembrance,
08:00not just being chemically reactive.
08:03That is spirituality.
08:05You see, we run our online program on the various wisdom scriptures, including the Bhagavad
08:22Gita, Upanishads, and a few other scriptures, and several thousands are participants in
08:35that program, and when they watch, it is not just they who are watching.
08:40Many a times, it's their friends and family members who accompany them in front of the screen.
08:45And we have dozens of testimonials every day where people talk of regaining, reclaiming
08:53their mental health after coming to utterances that tell them of the truth.
09:03It is the falseness of the world and flawed concepts and bad philosophy that turn us inwardly crazy.
09:15If things are made available to us, if things are told to us as they really are, that restores sanity.
09:26Absolutely.
09:27Ladies and gentlemen, you can't get it more clear than this from Acharya Prashant here.
09:33It's something that we must acknowledge, and not just the country, but the world also is
09:41coming to the fore when it comes to mental health, when it comes to… we have started
09:46talking about it, and I would admit, I would say that yes, Acharya Prashant himself is
09:52preaching what he has practiced.
09:55And trust me, a lot of you would know about the yesteryears, the earlier days of Acharya
10:02Prashant, but for many viewers who will be watching it through Daily Hunt, I would love
10:06to know it from you, sir, that the journey from Prashant Tripathi to Acharya Prashant,
10:13how did it come into being?
10:16What was the idea behind it?
10:19It's not as if Prashant Tripathi had an idea to become Acharya Prashant.
10:25I wish the idea was there 20-30 years back so that I could have dismissed it there itself.
10:34But sadly for me, there was no such idea.
10:37It's been an organic happening.
10:40It's a work in progress.
10:42So it's not as if one contemplates at one particular time and then executes the idea.
10:50That's not the way it happens.
10:54Like everybody who lives, I too wanted to make something good out of this one life that
11:04I have.
11:06So it has been a continuous series of decisions, you could even say daily decisions.
11:12This is the choice available to me and this is the direction in which I go, this is the
11:17choice available, this is the direction in which I go.
11:20So that's how it has been.
11:23It's not a roll switch.
11:26It's not as if you are doing this and then you say now instead of this I want to do this.
11:30It's been a continuous stream.
11:33It's just that the stream looks very different when it is in Rishikesh compared to when it
11:38is in Kolkata.
11:39Right.
11:40But just because the stream looks different, that does not mean that there are many streams.
11:45It's been one continuity.
11:47Absolutely.
11:48So in this very diverse world and scenario where anything and everything is available
11:55at the click of a button now, even buttonless, the mobile phones I'm talking about here,
12:01a lot of things which have been lost in translation or maybe lost in perception, Acharya Prashanth
12:11Ji, is the choice.
12:13Because there are so many voices who tell you, you should do this for a better life,
12:17you should do this for a better life.
12:19At what point and when should and in which position should we be able to make that decision
12:28that whatever they are saying is right, I should at least follow it.
12:32Because that also needs a lot of conviction.
12:35They need to be convinced that you should do this.
12:37How do we make that decision?
12:39Decision with respect to whom?
12:41Decision with respect to which side, which path to choose.
12:46You have to first of all listen to what is happening or what is being told, what is in front of you.
12:52You have to understand.
12:53Okay.
12:54Trying it out is the next step.
12:57How do I enter the laboratory without being versed in theory?
13:03So, first thing is to understand what is being said from all quarters and all dimensions.
13:10The market comes to you with a particular philosophy.
13:13The family comes to you saying this is the way you should take now in life.
13:19The job market has another set of advice to roll out.
13:24You listen to all of them.
13:27And then a lot of things will be discounted at the listening stage itself.
13:34Right.
13:35Just that you should not feel obliged to follow something because the one who is giving that advice holds a certain authority.
13:46Right.
13:47Irrespective of where the advice is coming from, the advice has to be weighed on its own merit.
13:54Right.
13:54Not on the basis of the grandness of the source it comes from.
14:02And when theoretically you have weighed it as much as you can, then you give it a try.
14:09And when you are trying something out, you should remember it's an experiment, which means it can fail.
14:14Which means that it is open to modifications.
14:18Which means that if you fail, you will try in some other way.
14:22Which means you are not committing yourself to anything.
14:26Right.
14:26So as young people, it is very, very important to not to commit yourself too early.
14:34Actually, I want to say you should never commit yourself to anything.
14:37But that would probably be a bit too much for the audience.
14:41So to begin with, just remember this, delay commitment as much as you can.
14:46The person who is committed to the truth cannot be committed to anything in the world very easily.
14:57Because nothing in the world is what you are really looking for.
15:03No object, no thought, no ideology, no person, no position in the world is what you are really looking for.
15:12So if you commit yourself to something, if you tie yourself down in obligations, then that is just bondage and slavery.
15:21Do not just say, now I belong to this particular field of profession.
15:26Do not say, now I have committed my life to this religious persuasion.
15:31Do not say, oh, I am now a right wing or a left wing or somebody, communist comrade.
15:40No, no, no. Don't say, oh, now I have committed to this person that I will belong to him or her my entire life.
15:48None of that. If you want to be devoted to the truth, avoid devotions of other kinds.
15:56Remain experimental. Keep on looking. Keep on seeing what all life has to offer you.
16:05Absolutely, Acharyaji, Prashanthji. The thing is, while, you know, listening to it, it might appear to be easy.
16:14But if I ask myself that if I keep experimenting with my job, I might or might not be able to make my both ends meet.
16:25So a fear factor creeps in. I have heard you, I've read you about when you talk about making our kids fearless.
16:33How do we do it and how important it is? Because at several stages, kids need to be fearless.
16:43Most of the fears that we have are thoughts of losing what you have gathered.
16:53Absolutely. So my advice would be do not gather stuff that can be lost.
16:58Do not have stuff in your mind that calls for too much maintenance or upkeep.
17:04At the age of 40, you have to remember, obviously, that time is not on your side.
17:11You have one life and that was not meant to be spent doing the job that you are probably currently doing.
17:19But even as you face this thought, you remember that you have a family and you have kids to feed
17:26and their school fee has to be deposited and such things.
17:30My question is, why must one create obligations when one is in a battlefield?
17:38You do not want to fight a battle taking care of dependents.
17:45Those dependents could be in the form of other people or the dependency could be inner.
17:50When you are carrying obligations, it will be very, very difficult to lead a life of freedom.
18:02I know of, there are so many entrepreneurs in the IITD 99 batch, for example,
18:10and I talked to them and they say that we prefer to hire married people and even among married
18:18people, we prefer to hire those who are carrying heavy EMIs.
18:25They say with such people, the attrition rate is very low. They don't run away.
18:29Who are the ones who run away? They say the attrition rate is highest among freshers.
18:35These people are free flyers. If they don't like what has happened on one day in the job,
18:41the next day they may not show up. But when it comes to a 40-year-old man
18:47who has to pay for his car loan, his house loan and for the college donation of his spoilt brat,
18:58this person will stick to the job like shavikol. He will not run away and he will tolerate all
19:04kinds of nonsense, but he will never run away. My question is, why should you bring yourself
19:09to that situation first of all? I hope you are getting the drift.
19:14The world will enslave you using your own pleasures and greeds.
19:23That which you today take from the world for your pleasure will tomorrow become
19:31the chain through which the world will manage a stranglehold over you.
19:37So enjoy stuff that is not too dependent on the world.
19:46Arts and books and travel and sports, they do not depend too much on the world.
19:53The world cannot take them away. But if you are dependent on money for your pleasures,
19:59then that can be taken away.
20:08Sounds too difficult? It's not difficult when you consider the difficulty that you face if you do not follow this.
20:18It's difficult either way. But one side appears easy only because we do not clearly see what lies on the other side.
20:29I would like to ask you, when you were here at IIT Delhi,
20:33were thoughts like these crossing your mind at that time?
20:36All the time. All the time.
20:39So, even as I am speaking to you, even as I am looking at the audience,
20:48there is something within me that's still busy with itself.
20:52So, that's my full-time occupation. To see, to question, to not be easily satisfied,
21:03to not to stop at cheap answers and yeah.
21:07Absolutely. Acharya Prashanth ji, I mean, I was listening to you earlier also.
21:13You mentioned about that hunger, that quest.
21:17After that hunger, that quest,
21:26then we go on and go forth. That quest doesn't stop.
21:32In your opinion, if supposedly we try and stop that quest, that hunger,
21:40do you believe it will somehow hamper the way the world is functioning?
21:45Curiosity, then solution.
21:48How does Adhyatma, how do you basically perceive it to keep the world rolling?
21:56It's a very shallow hunger.
22:00We do not really want that which will fulfill us.
22:04We are only wanting stuff that is easily available in the market and is mass consumed.
22:13What kind of hunger is this?
22:16This is a very feeble hunger, an imported hunger, a borrowed hunger.
22:22The fact is we are hungry for something else.
22:26This feeble hunger, even if it keeps the world rolling,
22:30it keeps the world rolling in a very turbulent way, a way of disharmony.
22:36Okay.
22:38I'm not talking of just quitting on the normal kind of hunger.
22:48I'm talking of throwing yourself completely, absolutely, fully
22:56into the throes of the right kind of hunger.
22:59One has to be absolutely hungry.
23:02My problem is not that you are hungry.
23:05My problem is that your hunger is very feeble.
23:09You need to have a much greater hunger.
23:12We do not realize.
23:13I have repeated that many times in the last hour or so.
23:17We seem to forget that there is just one life to live.
23:22And if there is one life to live, one has to make the most of it.
23:27That is what is referred to as the absolute in spirituality.
23:33Anything short of the absolute should not satisfy you.
23:37You should remain hungry.
23:39Instead, we are satisfied with little things like a decent job, dollars, green card and such things.
23:46That's what I'm saying is very small compared to what you deserve.
23:53Right. Very quickly.
23:56I have two kids.
23:57They are both going to school at an early age.
24:01The way of life that you have mentioned here, how do we start it at home?
24:05What is it that we can give to the kids so that by the time we reach that stage,
24:11they are not at that crossroad?
24:13First thing is that we should avoid giving to the kids as much as possible.
24:18You see, please understand, I am a person.
24:24You are a person.
24:25The kid too is a person.
24:27Are these persons really in a situation to give that person anything?
24:32Forget the roles that society and tradition and religion have accorded you.
24:38Society says as parents, you are gods to the kids.
24:42Just forget that for a while.
24:43I am a person.
24:44The kid too is a person.
24:46How am I really superior to that person?
24:49Do I really deserve to be that person's mentor or teacher?
24:53The little person, the little man?
24:56There is that little man.
24:58And just because I am Papa and society and tradition say, Papa is next to God.
25:05I think I am authorized to give the kid a lot.
25:11Am I?
25:11Really?
25:12Am I really?
25:14I have to ask myself, what is it that really spoils a kid?
25:18That which he does not get from the family or that which he gets from the family?
25:24This question needs to be asked.
25:25Absolutely.
25:26It's a valid question.
25:27We talk of brats, we talk of spoiled young people.
25:32And when we look at the world around, we all concur that mostly what we see is caricatures.
25:39Right?
25:39Do we like the faces of humanity?
25:42When you look at a cross-section of people, do you really enjoy looking at their faces?
25:46Do you really enjoy looking at their faces and their lives?
25:49Do you?
25:50I don't.
25:51And the fact remains that those people, those faces are products of the family system.
25:58They have been nurtured by a father and a mother and a chacha and a tau and a teacher.
26:04And they are the ones who brought up this kid to become this caricature.
26:09So, what is it that spoils a young man?
26:12What he gets from the family or what he does not get from the family?
26:16Doesn't matter.
26:16So, first thing is, be very, very cautious of yourself when you want to teach something to somebody.
26:29So, it has been said, teacher, teach thyself.
26:33The parents should first of all educate themselves.
26:37In fact, deciding to give birth should be a momentous decision.
26:43You should not decide to give birth if you do not very, very clearly see that you are in a position
26:50to mentor the kid, to bring up the kid in a healthy way.
26:54Instead, we give birth blindly, just biologically.
26:59In a moment of carnal pleasure, the kid is conceived and then the kid is born.
27:04And then the kid's fortune is in the hands of two very, very ignorant people
27:09who are typically in their late 20s.
27:11What do they know?
27:13Think of a new mother, think of a father, a first time father.
27:22The mother is 27, the father is maybe 28 or 30.
27:27Think of them.
27:28Who are they?
27:29What do they know?
27:31But now the kid's life and destiny is in their hands.
27:37Is it not really an injustice to the kid?
27:41Please think of it.
27:44And the kid cannot do anything because he is totally dependent.
27:48Totally dependent.
27:50The little child I see as the most exploited segment of humanity
27:57because he is totally dependent, totally dependent on very ignorant people.
28:02So, if we are parents, we should be very circumspect.
28:08We should ask, I am giving birth to this one.
28:11Have I given birth to myself?
28:13And now that he is here or she is here, should I not take great care of my inner self?
28:20Because whatever I do will have a bearing on the little one.
28:24So, I have to be as close to perfect as possible.
28:29Otherwise, I am betraying my responsibility towards the little one.
28:33Am I not?
28:35Thank you, Acharya Prashant.
28:36Thank you so much.
28:37That was insightful.
28:38Ladies and gentlemen, please put your hands together for Acharya Prashant here.
28:44Needless to say, there are so many things that go beyond the real, what we see.
28:49There's more to it, what meets the eye.
28:51Acharya Prashant, thank you so much for your insight, your value addition.
28:55And I would say a way of life, a way of thinking, a way of thinking is a way of life.
29:02And I would say a way of life that mostly remains unseen.
29:07But with your company, with your suggestions, and with your, I would say, inputs,
29:13definitely it is doable.
29:15Thank you so much for speaking to Daily Haunting.