Fakeness is confusion and fear; live authentic, real and clear || Acharya Prashant with youth (2013)

Listener: Should one be diplomatic or straightforward?

Speaker: Can I answer, if this is a diplomatic question?

(Addressing the listener) Utkarsh, even to answer this question, I must be sure that this is a straightforward question. If it is not a straightforward question, then how can a reply come, and you are asking me, ‘should I be diplomatic or straightforward?’ How would you feel if I start giving you a diplomatic reply? Can anything happen if both the parties are playing games with each other? Of course, some kind of talk will happen, some general time pass, two parties both intending to deceive each other and ultimately making a fool of each other.

But, I understand why you are asking this question, because we have been accustomed, we have been trained to live a very artificial life, a very fake life and that makes you wonder, ‘is there anything called authenticity in life or is everything just fake?’ A doubt has come up and it is a very serious doubt.

You are fortunate that a doubt has come up because there are so many of us who do not have even that doubt left, they fully well know that life is fake. So, in your first year, you are deeply convinced that life is inauthentic, that one must be cunning, that life is full of challenges and unless you are shrewd, cunning and devious, the world will eat you up, so be diplomatic: You must know all the right moves, you must be able to make your way through, your mind must be very very active and alert to the dangers and the world is dangerous, extremely dangerous place, you must watch what you are saying, you must not live freely in your expression, in your words and in your love, be guarded because you have a property that might be lost, the entire world wants to rob you of your property so, be careful.