Solution to Overthinking || Acharya Prashant (2022)

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?...   Read 3 handpicked wisdom articles, just for you: https://acharyaprashant.org/en/articl...  ~~~~~  Video Information: 08.12.2022, Sir J.J. College, Mumbai   Context: ~ How do I stop overthinking?  ~ How to deal with anxiety and fear?  ~ Why do we keep thinking of little things?  ~ How to stay away from trivia in life? ~ What is important to do in life?  ~ How to not be bothered by every little thing?  ~ What is worth doing?  ~ How to not waste my life?   Music Credits: Milind Date  ~~~~~

Transcript

00:00Good afternoon, sir. I am Tohina Chatterjee and I am in first year. So, I usually tend

00:08to overthink everyday things like everyday situations. Like even if it's just my bus

00:14not reaching the destination and things like that. So, how do I not let this fear take

00:20over myself?

00:22Think of better things. Think of more important things.

00:26I fall into this loop of thoughts where I just think about it instead of actually doing

00:32it.

00:33Have something in life that overpowers all the random thoughts. I am talking to you,

00:41right?

00:42Yes, sir.

00:43I happen to be a busy person. There are so many things that I can alternately think of

00:51at this moment. What makes me forget all those things?

00:59And frankly, to me, right now you are a stranger. All I know of is your name, to some extent

01:07your age, the institutions you are affiliated to. That's all that I know about you.

01:15Compared to this, there is so much else that I am involved in. There is my mission, there

01:20is my work and this is a working day and so many people are dependent on me for what they

01:27are doing.

01:28Why am I not thinking of them at this moment?

01:37Because this is important. That's all.

01:41When you do not have that in your life, which is important.

01:46When you do not have a sense of the worthy, the result will be that a lot of little things

01:55will invade the mind.

02:00There is no way to keep those little things away.

02:05They are like germs.

02:11They constantly keep attacking you.

02:15You cannot keep them away.

02:16You can only have a strong inner immunity.

02:21Is there a way to keep germs away, virus or bacteria or other kinds of pathogens?

02:27Is it possible?

02:28No, they are everywhere.

02:30I keep my hand here, they are here.

02:34This air that I breathe in, they are in the air.

02:38How do I ensure I am 100% shielded against them?

02:42Not possible.

02:43However, there is one thing that is possible which is my inner immunity and that inner

02:52immunity is called importance.

02:56Know what is important and then random things will cease to matter.

03:04If you find yourself thinking about unimportant matters too much, it just means that there

03:10is a huge inner vacancy for something important and that vacancy has not been filled.

03:20The mind cannot tolerate a vacuum, a vacancy.

03:29The mind needs something to chew.

03:34You cannot just abruptly bring the mind to a thoughtless state.

03:38Not possible.

03:42So what to do?

03:45As students, as beginners, what to do?

03:53Determine what is important, honestly give it due credit and I like to say fall in love

04:02with it, make it your life.

04:05Then there will be no space to think of random things and is that not beautiful?

04:13Life is pestering you with all the normal trivia and yet you are not bothered.

04:21Why?

04:22Because there is a mighty inner thing you have embraced and you simply don't have the

04:31time, the space to look towards anything else.

04:41Is it hot?

04:42Yes it is.

04:45Is it cold?

04:46Might be.

04:47Are you hungry?

04:48Probably yes.

04:49Do you need a little more money?

04:55Of course I do.

04:58Care for better clothes?

05:00Why not?

05:02But so sorry, in spite of all these things that I might potentially care for, I am occupied.

05:15Nobody will ever have enough money.

05:19Nobody will ever be able to say I do not need more clothes or better clothes.

05:25Nobody will ever say all my desires are now satisfied.

05:29That's not going to happen.

05:33Nobody will ever say the situations are all perfect.

05:42Those things will continuously remain just like the pathogens we talked of.

05:52But along with them, taking precedence over them, an inner sense of importance can remain

06:06and that has to be developed.

06:08It won't just come.

06:10As a young person you need to figure out very clearly what is worth doing.

06:19What is important in life?

06:22Else you are traveling to the college and you are looking out of the bus window and

06:31you see something happening, something by chance, the usual trivia and it will capture

06:39you and you will find yourself thinking about it 30 minutes.

06:4530 minutes of life gone on nothing.

06:52And that's how most of us simply waste away our entire life on nothing in particular.

07:04So what did you do your entire life?

07:08Nothing in particular.

07:09Though I was always occupied.

07:12I was always occupied.

07:14But what did you do?

07:17Nothing in particular.

07:18Okay, let's say you get a one week break, a Diwali break, 10 days break and somebody

07:28asks you what did you do actually?

07:31Is that not an honest answer?

07:36Nothing in particular.

07:39And that's what happens when you have nothing really important to do.

07:43You do nothing.

07:45At least nothing in particular.

07:50And it's unimaginable the lengths of time that you can simply squander doing nothing

08:00in particular.

08:01Two months summer holidays spent doing nothing in particular, nothing in particular.

08:12My driver, I make it a point, he drives slowly so that sitting on the rear seat, I do not

08:25get disturbed.

08:26Why?

08:27Because commutes take long, one hour, two hour and I want to read.

08:36That's the dedicated time I get to complete my reading list.

08:43Else it's very possible to simply say I was traveling, so I was doing nothing in particular.

08:52And it's not that you are doing nothing at all when you are traveling, you are doing

08:56something.

08:57What are you doing?

08:58Staring out of the window, looking at something random.

09:04In between you just scroll through the feed, Facebook or something, type something random

09:13on Instagram, ogle at some nice faces passing by, you don't know their name.

09:25The fellow will be in visual range for 2.2 seconds and yet the fellow becomes so important.

09:37Two seconds you stare and then for two minutes you think.

09:45By the time the next pretty face comes, you have already forgotten the previous one.

09:56And the world can be an unending succession of pretty faces, two hours will fly away.

10:10You did your entire journey doing nothing in particular.

10:18The name of the journey is life.

10:24Now death has arrived and death asks, so tell me, how was it?

10:38What did you do?

10:41Nothing in particular.

10:49Though I was always busy, always busy.

10:57You will never find anyone saying, so much time, kindly assign me some task.

11:05Have you found somebody begging for work?

11:11Everybody is running behind on schedule, right?

11:15If you happen to have a to-do list at all of any kind, you are always behind the list.

11:24Are you not?

11:27So everybody is occupied doing nothing in particular.

11:34You have one thing worth living for.

11:38You will forget when you board the bus.

11:42You will forget when the destination has arrived.

11:46Somebody will have to prod you to get down.

11:55You will be so immersed.

11:56That's a beautiful word, no?

12:00Immersion.

12:01How do you like it?

12:02Immersion.

12:03How about that?

12:04Does the word appeal to you?

12:09Immersion?

12:10Have you experienced that sometimes?

12:16Immersion?

12:19That alone is the way to live.

12:21If you are not immersed, you are scattered.

12:29How does it feel to be scattered?

12:31Have you experienced that?

12:33A state of being scattered inwardly?

12:36Have you?

12:42Isn't immersion beautiful?

12:45Have you seen how time stops when you are immersed?

12:50And if you can have immersion in your everyday life, that alone is the best meditation.

13:02Are you getting it?

13:06And if you can have that immersion, that is an antidote to all kinds of mental troubles.

13:17Otherwise, there is the menace of depression, anxiety and all kinds of mental things especially

13:24among the young.

13:34The one who has something to live for will never be mentally sick.

13:47And mental illness is a pointer that life is devoid of essence.

14:02I have no time to be anxious.

14:04How about that?

14:07Are you suffering from anxiety?

14:10What's the answer?

14:12I have no time to be anxious.

14:15Then anxiety requires time.

14:18I don't have time.

14:19How can I be anxious?

14:20Are you afraid?

14:21I have no space for fear.

14:25When fear comes, I say, sorry, no vacancy.

14:29Not that you aren't great.

14:32Obviously, you are great and powerful.

14:34The entire world kneels to you.

14:37You are wonderful.

14:38But as far as I am concerned, no vacancy.

14:45Give all your inner space to something that is beautiful for you.

14:53Let there be no vacancy.

15:00Get a headband.

15:01No vacancy.

15:02Or have a t-shirt straight on your heart here.

15:10No vacancy.

15:17Occupied.

15:21Engaged.

15:27The knowers in the spiritual domain, they have said, we are wedded already.

15:40And not only in the spiritual domain, obviously, you know of Bhagat Singh.

15:48So he was just 22 or 23 when he laid down his life.

15:55His mother had approached him once, you'll have to marry, you'll have to marry.

16:05He said, but I already am.

16:10And she was shocked.

16:11How can my son do that?

16:13What's her name?

16:15And what did he say?

16:17What did he say?

16:18Azadi.

16:19So, no vacancy.

16:20The girls are all beautiful, but sorry, no vacancy.

16:31Teri dulhan ka naam kya hai?

16:36Azadi.

16:37Already married, no vacancy.

16:44And that's why you remember him today.

16:48And that's why all others have become the dust of time.

16:54And Bhagat Singh is immortal.

16:56Even though he left his body at 23, yet he is immortal.

17:01And there were those who lived long lives for 90, 100 years.

17:07And yet, as we say, are just the dust of time.

17:10Who cares for them?

17:16That's the difference.

17:24Have an early wedding, as early as possible.

17:32Not the kind of wedding that requires social, religious and legal sanction and ceremonies.

17:42An internal wedding.

17:45Let nobody know of it.

17:54Azadi.

17:55Azadi.

17:56Azadi.

17:57Azadi.

17:58What do you think?

17:59Bhagat Singh had time to think of miscellaneous things?

18:08How occupied he was, you know of it, even on the eve of his hanging, he was still reading

18:21the Bhagavad Gita.

18:27A copy of that, in fact, that particular copy is still preserved.

18:32Or was he thinking, tomorrow I will die, what will happen then?

18:38Was he thinking?

18:40No.

18:41He said, but I still have a few, I still have a few hours.

18:46Let me spend these hours with the beloved.

18:50I have something very important to do.

18:53Or was he doing nothing in particular?

19:00Was he doing nothing in particular even in his last hours?

19:04No.

19:05He said, let me spend this time in reading.

19:07And he was a voracious reader.

19:12At your age, he was so well read.

19:21Never had any time to waste.

19:30I don't know, this one is from Bhagat Singh or one of the other great revolutionaries.

19:39Did they actually mark the last page they read in their favourite book?

19:46And somebody out of curiosity asked them and said, tomorrow you are going to be hanged.

19:50You will be no more.

19:51Why are you marking this page?

19:57And very mystically he said, because I have to continue from there.

20:06No time for self-pity, inner misery, sad thoughts.

20:17No time.

20:19I am busy with the right thing, even in my last moment.

20:35How about such a life?

20:39Does it not excite you?

20:44It does not, it seems.

20:46Or does it?

20:49It does be extremely occupied.

21:04Don't be like these wanton flies or insects.

21:10Seen how a mosquito behaves, sitting here, sitting there or a fly, hopping from here

21:16to there.

21:17Doing?

21:18Don't be like that.

21:19Please.

21:20Yes, sir.

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