How to watch one's tendencies? How to associate with the right objects? || Acharya Prashant (2024)

Acharya Prashant

‍♂️ Want to meet Acharya Prashant? Be a part of the Live Sessions: https://acharyaprashant.org/hi/enquir...   Want to read Acharya Prashant's Books? Get Free Delivery: https://acharyaprashant.org/en/books?... ~~~~~  Video Information: 17.03.2024, Vedanta Session, Greater Noida  Context: ~ How to watch one's tendencies?  ~ What does "egolessness" mean?  ~ How to get rid of ego?  ~ How to associate with the right objects? ~ How can one watch their own inclinations?  Music Credits: Milind Date  ~~~~~

Transcript

00:00Namaste, sir. I'm Varsha. I live in Virginia in the United States. And it's an honor to

00:06be able to watch you live and learn from you today. So thank you for the opportunity.

00:12I have two questions. The first one being, you spoke about associating ourselves with

00:19the right objects. And I want to understand how do I do that in my day to day life? I

00:25live as most people do, wake up, go to work, come back, cook or order, watch TV, sleep.

00:31How do I associate myself with the right objects in that practical day to day life? And the

00:37second one is, you also spoke about observing your tendencies, and knowing yourself through

00:46that. And in my experience, that observation is also very hard. Observing your tendencies

00:52without engaging them with them is also exhausting. Because then you start noticing that there's

00:58so much of clutter that goes on in your mind. And if you start paying attention to each

01:03one of those, without necessarily interacting with them or acting upon them, you're tired

01:10at the end of the day. So how to keep doing that?

01:14The second point contains the answer to the first one. The first one you said, how to

01:22enter into right relationships. But are we starting from a point where there is no relationship

01:30at all? No, that's not the starting point. The starting point is the point of lot of

01:37relationships. We already are into a lot of relationships. There is a relationship with

01:44the handbag, there is a relationship with the car, there is a relationship with that

01:49particular flower, there is a relationship with the favourite meal, and obviously there

01:53are relationships with the people in life. So they already do exist. So one starts by

02:00asking, what is the nature of these relationships? One does not start by asking how to get into

02:07the right relationship. One starts by asking, are the current relationships right? Because

02:16one is not available, one is not free to enter into anything new. All the benches in

02:26the hall are already occupied. There is no possibility of a new entrant. So one begins

02:34by asking, are these the right occupants? Why have I accorded these places to these

02:44objects? And those objects could be your hopes, desires, things, memories, money, fame, obviously people.

03:02So those things are there. One begins by asking, what is it that makes me cling to them? What

03:07is it that makes me at least retain them? Because no object stays in your life without

03:13the contribution of your energy. Relationships, as you know, require a lot of investment.

03:26We keep expending our time, our energy, our money to keep the chairs occupied. It's not

03:35that the occupants of the chair are sticky. If we leave them, they might as well leave.

03:43But we find that we have a stake in those relationships. One begins by asking, is the stake real at all?

03:52Or am I just an illusion?

03:59So one begins with things as they are. One begins and that's the only possibility. You have to begin where you are.

04:06You look at your current state. This is what I abhor so much. This is what I like so much.

04:17This is what I just don't want to look at. This is what I must daily look at.

04:23That's my favourite TV show. That thing, that shop, that product is what I feel addicted to.

04:30And you then ask yourself, is all of that or is any of that doing me any good?

04:37Because it's all about me. All my relationships are for my own stake. Are they not?

04:46So I must ask, what am I getting from that? What is that doing to me?

04:51What is that doing to me?

04:55And then things get dropped.

04:59And then the right thing happens on its own. Please remember this. The right thing will always happen on its own.

05:09The wrong thing often has to be forcefully done.

05:12The right thing. That does not mean that everything that happens on its own is the right thing.

05:22A lot of unconscious things also seem to happen on their own. One slips. As they say, one falls in love.

05:30And love and first sight and all those things, they also seem to happen on their own. We are not aware of that.

05:37We are talking of a point of clear consciousness.

05:41From there things just spontaneously happen and the right things will happen. Whatever will happen

05:46will be right. One need not even think about that. One has to rather think about the status quo,

05:53things as they are right now. Why are these chairs occupied by these objects?

06:00It's my mind, my sanctum sanctorum. Why must these things, these thoughts, these people, these objects,

06:07these events, these memories, these whatever feelings, emotions, why must they be present here?

06:13This is my fiefdom. This is my sacred zone. What right do these things have to be present here?

06:23That's how one proceeds. The second thing that you ask, it's difficult to observe oneself.

06:28You see, there are rabbits in the lawn. It's a large wide lawn.

06:38It is not at all exhausting to observe the rabbits. But if you chase the rabbits, obviously you'll be exhausted.

06:48Observe things as they are. Don't chase them. Don't desire anything from them.

06:51But if you desire to catch a rabbit and hold it in your lap, then obviously you'll be exhausted.

06:59So, thoughts, feelings and all these things are these rabbits.

07:03They keep operating in that wide expanse, that lawn of the mind.

07:08Observation takes no energy. All it takes is attention.

07:13But if you want to have a relationship with the objects that you are observing,

07:18obviously that will sap you out.

07:21When we observe, we don't observe without motive. When we observe, we become policemen.

07:33This thing must be, oh, I just observed a bad thought. So, it must be suppressed.

07:38Now that suppression will require energy.

07:42And you don't need to suppress it. It's just a rabbit. Let the rabbit do its own thing in the lawn.

07:48You're there to observe, not to catch it.

07:55Yeah. Thank you. Appreciate it.

07:59Wonderful.

08:05Essentially, thank you so much Acharyaji for doing this. I've been waiting for the privilege

08:15and the honor of being able to interact with you and to listen to you in English.

08:20I keep looking for English content. It's hard for me to understand Hindi.

08:24My question was essentially the same as what Varsha just asked in terms of what are the things,

08:31for example, you said there could be something like a small tumor growing in your stomach and

08:34that's external. But a thought like that terrifies me. So, what are some of the things that we can do

08:40to sort of get to that point was my first question. And then just observe is your answer.

08:45You don't have to do anything, but just observe. And that is how you get start to know yourself.

08:53But the additional question that comes to my mind then is, in a world where

09:01you know, we are, there is, we only know and we're only able to comprehend relative truth.

09:07You know, if everything that I'm thinking, the opposite of that is also is true. And

09:16there is no clear way to define what knowledge is, you know, Bertrand Russell's paradox,

09:21for example, right? If a universal set contains all sets, does it contain itself?

09:26In a world like that, when we're dealing with that as a limitation, how do we even begin to

09:31start thinking about ourselves and thinking about, you know, observing ourselves because

09:35those observations are fundamentally false? The observation becomes false

09:43when there is a motive behind the observation.

09:49It is difficult to explain what motiveless, desireless observation is like.

09:55You talked, for example, of being frightened by the thought of the tumor in the stomach.

10:10Think of that. There has to be a motive, please. What can the tumor do? It can destroy the body, right?

10:18Now, the body is something that I have and I have a motive.

10:25I have a motive. My motive is that I must live freely and joyfully.

10:33That's the fundamental motive of every human being.

10:37And the body is a means, a vehicle through which much can be done to move into that freedom and joy.

10:53So, if I have a car and the car is to be used for a decent purpose and if I find that the car

11:04is developing a snag in the engine, why must I not be worried? It's alright to be worried.

11:13But it's alright to be worried only when I know who I am and where I am to go.

11:20Else, why must the state of the car worry me?

11:28Why must the state of the car worry me?

11:31If the car is to just remain parked or if the car exists just for the purpose of getting fuelled and serviced of what use is the car to me?

11:48Are you getting it?

11:50Then, the thing that opposite of one thing or opposite of one truth is another truth,

12:08all that is valid in the domain of concepts and ideas.

12:16But when we are talking of the truth in Vedanta, it is something beyond me.

12:24That which is beyond me is the truth because whatsoever is in my domain

12:33carries the same limitations as I do.

12:37And since I am not okay with my limitations, I dare not call myself as the truth.

12:47Because the truth by definition has to be the final thing.

12:51If I am the final thing, then my limitations are the final thing.

12:57That would mean that I am condemned to bear my limitations and suffering.

13:05Therefore, I will never never want to call myself as the truth.

13:09How will I proceed to call one thought as the truth and the opposite of that, two as the truth?

13:18No, no, no. That's not how one has to wisely look at it.

13:23This thought, that thought, they are all my thoughts.

13:28And no thought is the truth because all thoughts are to me.

13:35Because all thoughts are to me.

13:40All thoughts are to me.

13:44Who am I? I am my own suffering.

13:47What do I want to do? I want to get rid of my suffering.

13:52Therefore, I have to go beyond my little self.

13:59And that which is beyond my little self is the truth. I cannot even name it.

14:03So, I just point at it by saying that which is beyond me.

14:10All that I can know is myself.

14:13So, I use myself as the center of reference and say that which is beyond me.

14:21Because I know myself.

14:22And I also know that as far as I am concerned,

14:25as far as the domain of my thoughts, feelings, existence, opinions is concerned,

14:31none of that manages to satisfy me.

14:37So, I know that I don't have to take them seriously.

14:41I don't have to take myself seriously.

14:44I am not the truth. I am not the truth.

14:48I am not the truth. How can my thought be the truth?

14:50I don't think the place you are coming from has been fully addressed.

15:02So, please counter question.

15:06So, my question would be, I understand actually that was,

15:13you know, I actually clarified a lot, Archanaji, in the sense that

15:18the truth is not something that I am generating.

15:21It is something that is outside.

15:22So, is that an article of faith then, to some extent?

15:26It's just a humble admission that as far as I am concerned

15:31and the domain of my thoughts and experiences is concerned,

15:35there is no peace there.

15:37That's a humble admission.

15:40I identify falseness.

15:43That's the maximum I can do.

15:48My job is to identify all that is false.

15:50I will not utter a word about the truth.

15:56And in other words, all that I can identify

16:00is by the virtue of identification to be considered as false.

16:04If I can identify it, it is false because it's being identified by me.

16:17Thank you, Acharyaji.

16:24That is a lot of perspective.

16:29Welcome.

16:37Namaste.

16:39My name is Saloni.

16:40I live in the States and I work for a bank.

16:43I started listening to Acharyaji two years ago.

16:46I started on YouTube and then one year later,

16:51I started connecting with all these sessions.

16:54So now I'm connected to all of the sessions,

16:56Gita Samagam, Bodh Pratyusha, Sansarita and Vedanta Samhita.

17:05Ever since I started listening to Acharyaji,

17:08I really understood my speciesist mindset that humans,

17:13we think that we are above all animals and we are above nature

17:19and that everything in nature exists,

17:22so we can exploit it and consume it for our selfish desires.

17:30Acharyaji also helped me understand that real peace and joy

17:35comes from increasing our self-awareness

17:40and really understanding our emotions,

17:43where they come from, our sense of ego

17:47and elevating our consciousness on a daily basis.

17:54I've also become less body-oriented ever since I started listening to him.

18:02I think one thing I really like about these sessions is that

18:05he talks to grown-ups like us, like we are little children,

18:11and he really simplifies all the complex ideas and makes them easy to understand.

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