Does corporate life dehumanize the workers? || Acharya Prashant, at IIM Bangalore (2022)
Questioner (Q): I watched your recent video - “Loving your fake lifestyle.” In that video you talked about two things. One is abuse of consciousness and another was that corporates are dehumanizing the employees.
In that context I wanted to ask you, this dehumanization actually is not only happening in corporates, but I think it is something that starts with the family itself. And the second thing is the abuse of consciousness. We are aware about the gross forms of abuse of consciousness, but we don't know much about the subtle forms of abuse of consciousness. This is one part of the question.
Second part is—and this a little paradoxical—now we see that the world is moving towards destruction and climate change. Now, all the students who are studying in higher institutions, they are going to join all the corporates that are part of the problem. So how do we help these students to make them aware, that where they're going and investing their life, is actually pushing the contribution of their life towards the destruction of the planet? And at the same time you could also talk about the subtle forms of abuse of consciousness.
Acharya Prashant (AP): You see, to use human thought, feelings, energy, any resources available to the human being, for any end objective other than liberation, is actually abuse of consciousness. When you are physically alive, you are said to be conscious, right? So, abuse of consciousness is simply abuse of life. To use your life for any final purpose other than liberation from various kinds of bondages, including your biological instincts and ignorance, is what is abuse of consciousness.
What is gross abuse of Consciousness? What is subtle abuse of consciousness? What is gross? What is subtle? That which the eyes can easily perceive, and the ears can easily hear, and the skin can touch, is said to be gross. Whereas, that which can only be imagined, ideated, or conceptualized is said to be subtle.
