When friends prefer nonsense || Acharya Prashant, on Vedanta (2021)

Acharya Prashant

Video Information: Shastra Kaumudi, 20.12.2021, Rishikesh, India  Context: ~ How did Krishna teach Arjun? ~ What is the essence of the Bhagwad Gita? ~ Bhagwad Gita holds a very special place in spirituality. ~ What makes Bhagwad Gita so special? ~ The real meaning of Gita ~ How to understand Bhagwad Gita?   Music Credits: Milind Date   #acharyaprashant #vedanta  #youth

Transcript

00:00It's from a 30-year-old assistant professor.

00:04She is asking, Namaste sir, often while talking to friends and colleagues, I tend to nowadays

00:10talk about the Upanishads, but they see it as some sort of exotic different type of readings

00:17that I am undertaking, as opposed to realizing that they are the very essence, the authority

00:21on life.

00:23In my social circle, an academician is an authority.

00:27I cannot seem to communicate that Upanishads are not a side study, but really everything

00:32that could be seen and heard.

00:34There is no question at the end, but I think she is asking that how do I communicate to

00:39them that the Upanishads are really the essence and authority of life.

00:46And also why is that such a situation?

00:48You will have to continue going deeper into the Upanishads.

00:54Two things will then concurrently happen.

00:59One, you will gain the conviction and the argument to be more convincing to others.

01:12Secondly, you will lose the need to be more convincing to others.

01:21Oh, you will gain the power, the argument, the clarity to be more convincing to others.

01:36Equally, you will lose the need to be more convincing to the others.

01:42In your question, I sense a lot of need.

01:45Where does that need come from?

01:48That need comes from the desperation to keep the company of the Upanishads and still not

01:58lose your old company.

02:03If you are with the Upanishads and with people who do not acknowledge the Upanishads, what

02:12are you doing with those people?

02:15Right now it is not as if you want to do others a favor by explaining the Upanishads to them.

02:25Right now, you are in a need to explain to the others because probably you cannot afford

02:33to be without the others.

02:37That is because your study of the Upanishads is still not deep enough.

02:45What is liberation?

02:46If not liberation from bad company, of what use have the Upanishads been if they could

02:54not give you the strength, the conviction to reject bad company?

03:08And bad company is not merely that which would abuse the Upanishads.

03:15If you think of Upanishads as some exotic toys, what else is bad company?

03:34So it's a funny combination.

03:38You become more capable of explaining to others and you become less needful of explaining

03:45to others.

03:47Now you do not explain to others because it's an obligation upon you.

03:58You do not explain to others because you cannot survive without the others.

04:05Now you explain to the others from a position of strength, not a position of desperation.

04:15And that's when, the funniness in the story continues, that's when others realize that

04:24Upanishads indeed do have power, when they will see that you are not even interested

04:29in explaining to unworthy people, they will realize you have understood something important.

04:38And then they will come abegging, they will say, please tell us what you have known, please

04:45tell us what you have known, and now you are not desperate to explain to them.

04:52Now you will choose the worthy listeners and when the worthy ones will be there, you will

04:59find you are very capable of explaining to them.

05:04Initially the condition is the opposite.

05:13You are desperate to explain to others and not capable of explaining at all.

05:21So you can imagine what happens.

05:25You run around gathering people, trying to convince them that the Upanishads you have

05:31recently gained familiarity with are nice things to read, but you yourself don't have much depth.

05:42So the crowd that you gather does not get impressed by you.

05:49Your arguments have hardly any depth.

05:54So it is this huge crowd you have gathered out of your need, out of your own desperation

05:58to maintain relationships and company, and the crowd just feels bemused and amused.

06:14What is this new thing he has gotten into?

06:24And all in all, one gives the Upanishads a bad name.

06:34Some smart chap comes up with a smart question and that fellow has had nothing to do with

06:40spirituality at all and he comes up with a funny question.

06:45People are smart and you have no proper response.

06:53What have you done to the Upanishads?

06:56You have given them a bad name.

07:02First thing in liberation is feel empowered to dismiss unworthy people.

07:10Why do you have to be in their company?

07:19If a worthy one is spotted, do everything you can to relay this special knowledge to him or her.

07:34But unworthy ones, unwilling ones, two hoots to them.

07:44People come, take the Upanishads from here and then feel depressed, their parents or

08:02spouses are not heeding to the Upanishads.

08:08So I ask them, why must your spouse or your parents be the first ones to gain this knowledge from you?

08:21If they are not listening to you, go and teach this to your neighbor or to some random person

08:26on the street.

08:31There are so many eligible and willing people, they will be very happy to receive this knowledge

08:38from you.

08:39But to them you will not go, because you do not have a blood relationship with them, because

08:44you do not have selfish interests tied to them.

08:48So you won't go to them, instead you go to their spouse.

08:54It's alright, I do not say, do not teach the Upanishads to your spouse.

08:58But having tried with your spouse, if you meet resistance and unwillingness and also

09:07ineligibility, why do you still keep wasting your time with that ineligible person?

09:19Aren't there other more deserving candidates to invest your time upon?

09:29Go to them, teach them.

09:33But no, we are held captive by bonds of blood, by bonds of pecuniary or social interest.

09:52I have just learned the Upanishad and if I can impress my boss with it, I will gain a quick promotion.

10:00So I will go to the boss and gift a copy of the Upanishads and the boss doesn't care

10:05and then I am hurt.

10:06Then what do I do?

10:07I ask Acharya, Acharya ji, how to impress one's boss with the Upanishads?

10:11Offer your resignation, he will be impressed.

10:19Your resignation will be your first baby step towards the Upanishad.

10:25Why work under a boss who is stupid enough to not respect the Upanishads?

10:31Aren't you ashamed?

10:43But the boss is boss.

10:45Even if the boss throws the Bhagavad Gita to the dustbin in front of you, you will not resign.

10:53Because we are servants to money.

10:59No?

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