Video Information: Shastra Kaumudi Live, 16.05.2020, Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India
Description:
In this thought-provoking session, Acharya Ji explores the profound teachings of the Bhagavad Gita, shedding light on the intricate dance between our divine and demonic natures. He articulates how our choices shape our experiences, leading us to oscillate between higher consciousness and lower instincts. With a compelling narrative, Acharya Ji emphasizes that the root of our struggles often lies in the philosophies we adopt, Many of which are unconsciously inherited from society and our upbringing.
He challenges listeners to embark on a journey of self-discovery, urging them to examine their internal belief systems and the philosophies that govern their lives. By doing so, individuals can uncover the clarity and direction that often elude them. Acharya Ji passionately advocates for the wisdom found in spiritual scriptures, presenting them as a beacon of light that can guide us toward a more conscious and fulfilling existence.
Context:
13. "This has been gained by me today; this desire I shall obtain; this is mine, and this wealth also shall be mine in the future.”
14. "That enemy has been slain by me, and others also shall I slay. I am the Lord, I enjoy, I am successful, powerful, and happy.”
15. "I am rich and well-born. Who else is equal to me? I will sacrifice, I will give, I will rejoice." Thus deluded by ignorance;
16. Bewildered by many a fancy, covered by the meshes of delusion, addicted to the gratification of lust, they fall down into a foul hell.
~Shrimad Bhagwad Gita (Chapter-13, Verse-13,14,15,16)
~ Who is an evil?
~ Who is Asura?
~ What is meant by Sattvic Guna?
~ Who else is equal to me?
~ How alert you are?
Music Credits: Milind Date
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
#acharyaprashant #bhagavadgita
Description:
In this thought-provoking session, Acharya Ji explores the profound teachings of the Bhagavad Gita, shedding light on the intricate dance between our divine and demonic natures. He articulates how our choices shape our experiences, leading us to oscillate between higher consciousness and lower instincts. With a compelling narrative, Acharya Ji emphasizes that the root of our struggles often lies in the philosophies we adopt, Many of which are unconsciously inherited from society and our upbringing.
He challenges listeners to embark on a journey of self-discovery, urging them to examine their internal belief systems and the philosophies that govern their lives. By doing so, individuals can uncover the clarity and direction that often elude them. Acharya Ji passionately advocates for the wisdom found in spiritual scriptures, presenting them as a beacon of light that can guide us toward a more conscious and fulfilling existence.
Context:
13. "This has been gained by me today; this desire I shall obtain; this is mine, and this wealth also shall be mine in the future.”
14. "That enemy has been slain by me, and others also shall I slay. I am the Lord, I enjoy, I am successful, powerful, and happy.”
15. "I am rich and well-born. Who else is equal to me? I will sacrifice, I will give, I will rejoice." Thus deluded by ignorance;
16. Bewildered by many a fancy, covered by the meshes of delusion, addicted to the gratification of lust, they fall down into a foul hell.
~Shrimad Bhagwad Gita (Chapter-13, Verse-13,14,15,16)
~ Who is an evil?
~ Who is Asura?
~ What is meant by Sattvic Guna?
~ Who else is equal to me?
~ How alert you are?
Music Credits: Milind Date
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
#acharyaprashant #bhagavadgita
Category
📚
LearningTranscript
00:00Chapter 16, Srimad Bhagavad Gita, verses 13 to 16.
00:13This has been gained by me today.
00:16This desire I shall obtain.
00:19This is mine, and this wealth also shall be mine in the future.
00:24Their enemy has been slain by me, and others also shall I slay.
00:28I am the Lord, I enjoy, I am successful, powerful and happy, I am rich, I am well born, who
00:35is equal to me?
00:36I will sacrifice, I will give, I will rejoice.
00:42Thus deluded by ignorance, bewildered by many a fancy, covered by the meshes of delusion,
00:50addicted to the gratification of lust, they fall down into a foul hell.
00:59So that's the description of those with Asuri Prakrti, the demonic disposition.
01:15Also the questioner says, I see that most of us have a mixture of both Asurika and the
01:25divine, Deviya state.
01:31Why does this mixture exist?
01:32Why do we switch back and forth?
01:36Also the deeper I get into the scriptures, the more I see that it is the same with my
01:41family.
01:43I am torn between limiting my contact with them to improving my ability to purify myself,
01:49and between my duty to care for them, how to come out of this situation.
01:56Alright.
01:58So, why do we switch back and forth between the two states?
02:06There is no answer to this because the only causing agent is your choice.
02:17If you do something and you ask the other, why do I do it?
02:24What can he say?
02:25He will say, it's your choice, that's what you do.
02:30Maybe it's an unconscious choice.
02:35Then the answer is that just as right now you appear to be quite conscious while asking
02:42this question, what's the question?
02:44Why do we switch back and forth between the Asuri and the Deviya state, between the demonic
02:50and the divine state?
02:54Actually you should remain equally conscious when you are making those switches.
03:00When those switches happen in your mind, those times, are you conscious?
03:08Right now as you are asking me this question, see how alert you are, you are wide-eyed,
03:12you are eager, you want to know, you want to receive, you are alert, you are looking
03:17at things, you are so receptive.
03:23Right now when you are asking me this question, and what's your question?
03:26Why do I slip back from a deity?
03:31Why do I turn into a demon?
03:34But that's only right now.
03:38When you indeed did slip into the demonic state, had you had any consciousness?
03:49You had no consciousness.
03:51And even letting your consciousness recede is a choice.
03:58Consider an example.
04:04You slap someone in a drunken state, abuse him, or do something else that is equally
04:13silly.
04:17And then later on, when you are confronted, you want to save your face, saying, oh, but
04:31I didn't do that consciously.
04:40It happened in spite of me.
04:43I just didn't know.
04:45I slipped.
04:46All right.
04:47Seems like a valid argument.
04:51At that moment, when you abused and slapped the other, you indeed were probably unconscious,
05:00right?
05:01But was the decision to turn unconscious to taken in an unconscious state?
05:13Getting the question?
05:17At 2 a.m., you slapped the other.
05:24And then when you're questioned, you say, oh, I didn't do it on choice.
05:29It just happened.
05:30I was drunk.
05:31All right.
05:32You were unconscious.
05:34But you were quite conscious at midnight when you chose to start drinking.
05:51That's when the champagne was opened, was it not?
06:01And were you drunk when you started drinking?
06:04No.
06:06So even the choice to turn unconscious is a conscious choice.
06:15Drinking is a great example.
06:16Is it not?
06:17Now, you could say, well, you see, sir, your argument is not fully valid, because had I
06:22been fully conscious even at midnight, why would I take a decision to turn unconscious?
06:29Unconscious.
06:30All right.
06:31Fine.
06:32So why did you take a decision to turn unconscious?
06:37What was then the overriding influence on you?
06:42You will say, well, you see, all these friends, they just hopped in.
06:49And because they were here, so we decided to have some drinks.
06:54All right.
06:56Who allowed those friends to enter your life?
07:01Who was the one who termed them as friends in the first place?
07:09And if those friends indeed turned in uninvited, did you not have the choice to send them back?
07:19So even if you keep on presenting a series of excuses, you will find that it is always
07:28a choice to remain conscious or unconscious or to turn progressively unconscious.
07:35It is always a choice.
07:38And it is your choice.
07:39Therefore, you cannot ask, why does it happen?
07:41If you'll ask me, why does it happen, I'll turn the question back to you.
07:46I'll ask, why did you do it?
07:49Why do you do it?
07:52And if you'll go deeper into the question, if you'll keep probing the chain bit by bit,
08:05you'll find that ultimately you'll come to your flawed concepts about your life.
08:15It will probably stop at that, if it has to stop anywhere at all.
08:22You'll find that your basic philosophy of life is flawed.
08:28And your basic philosophy of life is what defines you as a human being.
08:37All animals are alike.
08:39I'm talking of all individuals of a particular species.
08:43They are all alike.
08:44Are they not?
08:45You won't find them very different.
08:47Alright, each dog has his own unique personality, but the differences in their personalities
08:53are minimal.
08:54Aren't they?
08:55Whereas you'll find a great difference between the personalities of dogs and wolves or jackals
09:04and foxes.
09:06Great difference.
09:08Within a particular species, all members would be largely alike.
09:13But that's not so in the case of human beings.
09:16Human beings differ greatly because human beings are the only species that have the
09:21power, the ability, the freedom, the privilege to choose their central life philosophy.
09:30What your central life philosophy is, separates you from the other.
09:36Otherwise, at the level of the body, we are all largely alike.
09:41You have two eyes, so have I.
09:44You are born, you live for X years, quite similar is my story at the physical level.
09:53Still, human beings are tremendously different from each other.
10:01It would be quite a stretch upon the imagination to say that a Krishna, for example, is very
10:11similar to the lousy lout roaming the streets.
10:20You can't say that, can you?
10:24Men differ greatly among themselves.
10:32What is the difference?
10:34The difference is, what is it that you believe in?
10:40Right philosophy and you have a great person.
10:43Wrong philosophy and you have a totally distorted specimen.
10:48Unfortunately, most of us just don't have the right center, the right philosophy.
10:56That right philosophy is found at such places, some places.
11:04Those places are called spiritual scriptures.
11:11The rishis were essentially philosophers of life and they gave a great and exalted philosophy.
11:22Philosophy of a stature that no other philosopher has been able to match at all.
11:31You have had several others coming after them.
11:35You had philosophers in all corners of the world.
11:39But nobody has been able, for example, to match the philosophy of Advaita Vedanta.
11:45All right, you may not want to agree to Advaita Vedanta, but at least have some philosophy
11:53at your core.
11:56Some reasonable, coherent philosophy.
12:02Most people live their entire lives by very, very ramshackle, fragmented and horrible philosophies.
12:18They are not even conscious what their philosophy really is, though if you observe their life,
12:24you will be able to say, see when this kind of a thing happens, then he responds in this
12:28way.
12:29When that kind of a thing happens, he reacts in this way.
12:32So putting these two together, I can see what his philosophy is like.
12:36If you can watch somebody's actions, his thoughts, his life, you will be clearly seeing what
12:41his life philosophy is and there is a central philosophy.
12:46But most people do not even know what their central philosophy is because their central
12:50philosophy, unfortunately, was ingrained in them, implanted in them when they were
12:58just too young.
13:00They were conditioned by education and family and society and so many other things.
13:06They took in that philosophy and started believing in it as the ultimate truth.
13:13And that philosophy incapacitated them to an extent.
13:18It made them mentally and intellectually handicapped to an extent that they are not even able to
13:25now perceive and detect that philosophy, let alone question it.
13:31Are you getting it?
13:33And it is their philosophy that works for them, decides for them, speaks for them, lives
13:37for them in a very horrible way, obviously.
13:42Are you getting it?
13:45You must ask yourself, what is my philosophy?
13:48What do I live by?
13:52What's my internal compass?
13:55What's my inner equation or formula?
13:57And we all have one.
13:59Don't say I can't detect any because I don't have any.
14:03You too have something.
14:08Find it out.
14:09Dig it out.
14:10And when you will find it out, you might be amazed.
14:15It might be so rotten, so distorted, you will be left wondering how come you lived
14:20by this for so long.
14:23Are you getting it?
14:27And that is the reason I emphasize so much on the scriptures.
14:36That which you call as divine revelations or the world of God, that word of God is actually
14:42just a top-notch philosophy, probably the best philosophy that is possible.
14:53We all deserve to read it, we all deserve to learn it, obviously.
15:02It's upon our discretion, but at least go to it, compare it with your inner existing
15:10embedded philosophy and the conclusion would be obvious.
15:16There is a tremendous difference between the clarity that they offer and the darkness that
15:25we contain.
15:28Are you getting it?
15:32That's the reason why most people keep switching between all these states because the central
15:39philosophy itself is quite rudimentary and dysfunctional.
15:48It doesn't allow them to operate consciously, energetically, pointedly in the right direction.
16:00It's a mixture of influences really.
16:04What would you call a philosophy that has one paragraph taken from Kant, the next one
16:12from Hegel, third one from Chopin, fourth from Voltaire, and I'm talking of big names
16:20here.
16:22Even if you take four paragraphs from these four greats, the combination might still mean
16:33something meaningful.
16:36But what if your philosophy consists of 40 paragraphs, one taken from your geography
16:45teacher of class 7, one taken from your cousin who managed to clear a particular college
16:56entrance exam, one taken from a cartoon show that you watched in class 3, one taken from
17:06the community bully who bashed you up when you were class 4 and after bashing you up
17:15he had proclaimed some golden words upon you just to add insult to injury and you took
17:26those words quite literally and seriously and turned them into your totem.
17:35Such is our philosophy.
17:37We do not even know where it comes from.
17:40It's a very jumbled up mass, a jumbled up mass of mangled visions.
18:10I see that the same is the case with my family as well.
18:22So I'm torn between limiting my contact with my family and improving my ability to purify
18:28myself and between my duty to care for them.
18:38You don't really have to see it as an either or situation.
18:44Being what you are, you are experiencing the dilemma or the crisis that you are.
18:53Remember that crisis is a function of who you are.
18:56Whatever you experience is a function of who you are.
19:00When you will change, your experience of the crisis itself will change.
19:03In other words, the crisis may no more remain at all.
19:09You say right now I am in a crisis.
19:10I am confused and the other one is confused.
19:14I do not know whose confusion to clear first.
19:17That's your question.
19:19Should I clear up his confusion?
19:21Should I focus on my own improvement?
19:24That's what you are asking.
19:26If you are confused, then obviously this question too is confused.
19:31If you are confused, then the two options that you are generating for yourself, both
19:35of them are obviously confused options.
19:39So you forget all about the situation.
19:42Focus on your own improvement.
19:44Get some clarity first of all.
19:46If you do not know what the situation is, how can you improve it?
19:49If you do not know what a thing is like, how can you change it?
19:54Even if you want to change something, you have to first of all be in your senses and
19:59understand what the thing is all about.
20:03When you know the stuff that is going on within you and around you, then you will be in a
20:09far better position to do something about it if something is needed at all.