False masters and false teachings
Questioner: Yesterday you spoke about the relevance of spirituality where you dismissed the disregard towards scriptures that the Sadgurus of the world speak of. Now I feel, I am broken in the sense that I don't know whether to be associated with him anymore. And I also think that if this can happen now with them, it may happen with you as well. Where if I am emotionally invested with Advait (Acharya Prashant's Foundation) and somebody else happens to speak a point about you that disregards your views, I might find myself shattered again.
What do I do?
Acharya Prashant: Get shattered. Do you like things that get shattered? You don't. So let them get shattered. For the Truth, the words used are akhand (Unbroken), atoot . What does that mean? That which cannot be divided, broken, fragmented, shattered, avibhajya , anavyeva , aparimeya . Aparimeya means that which cannot be measured. Anavyeva means that which has no components. Avibhajya means that which cannot be divided.
If there is something that can be broken let it be broken. How does it matter whether the broken stuff carries the name of that teacher or this teacher? If this one (indicating himself) is telling you something that cannot pass the test of Truth why should you continue to keep false teachings with you? The one mark of Truth is timelessness.
Seasons come and go, Upanishads remain relevant. Nobody has been able to blemish them or prove them false. And that's why they are valuable, right? If there is something that can be proven false, dismiss it, obviously, and move on. Move on till you eventually come to something that cannot be shattered.
Why do you want to get fixated to anybody? And anybody includes (Indicating towards himself). You have a love for that which cannot change with time. That's why man fears death. Your core is in love with that which time cannot hurt or change or remove.
You want something that can never be outdated. Something that can never be improved anymore. Something beyond which no better exists. You must be able to clearly say, “Nothing better than this exists.” All these are names of the Truth that to which nothing is better.
If you go to the scriptures they will say, “The highest, the most glorious.” If something can be better, it is obviously false. What is the Truth then? That in the light of which all betterment takes place. So, feel grateful that the light of the Truth could show the false as false. If you can see something as false, it is a clear proof that you have been blessed by the Truth. Otherwise, how would you have seen the false as the false?
If you will go to Kabir Sahab's Saakhi Granth you will find a chapter that says, “Saar Graahi Kau Ang” and the succeeding chapter that says, ”Asaar Graahi Kau Ang” . You know who Saar Graahi is? Who has a love only for the Saar , the Truth.
You know who the Asaar Graahi is? Who has an inclination towards the periphery, the personality and there are teachers who very meticulously cultivate their personalities. And if you are an Asaar Graahi then you will get attracted towards them. A very organized and deliberate aura is created. It takes a lot to organize that aura, you know. It takes an entire organization to just maintain and further that aura. But only an Asaar Graahi would fall for it.
Why would you fall for something that requires millions of rupees or dollars to be maintained? Go for the Truth, straight away. One pointed should be your direction. Anything to the left or to the right, anything above or below, should be contemptuously disregarded, ignore. "I know what I want and nothing else can distract me."
"You might be having a wonderful personality, what clothes, what sets, what a huge number of followers, what a giant statue. But are you bringing me any closer to the Truth? If yes, I'll lie at your feet. If no, then to hell with all the great persona that you have created. Will I die with all this? Even you will not die with all this. Of what use would all these things will be to me if I die without liberation?"
"The buildings, the rituals, the names, the works, all the jazz, what do I want? I want the Truth. Is all this delivering the Truth to me? Yes, magnificent statue, what a temple, what a pond, so?" That's the question. "So? Is all this delivering that Truth to me that the Upanishads sing of? If it is, then I say I will roll at your feet, and if it is not then I don't want to see your face.”
Similarly, how does it matter that Kabir happens to be a poor weaver? No works, no jazz. An ordinary weaver, living in an ordinary colony, very ordinary clothes and little clothes not so many. Simple clothes, like a simple man. You feel like running away. The narrow lanes of Kashi and as you make your way through those lanes, you come to the house of this poor weaver and he's doing his daily chores. He is into his professional schedule. And as you sit by him, he says something to you very pithily, very tersely; one Doha (Couplet) and that's all. That too in the native language not in English. That too in the very native accent not in some alien accent. You're not impressed, are you?
To hell with impressions. What you want is the Truth. Is he delivering the Truth to you? Be with him. Never leave him. Just stay put. And if he is not delivering the Truth to you (Leave him, run away; indicating by his expressions )
If you ever learn that something that Acharya Prashant has been teaching you is flawed, just do not quickly run away from Acharya Prashant, before running away please come and educate him as well so that he may run away with you. Because he too wants and eagerly wants to know what is still missing in his teaching. He too is a seeker, a student, just like you.
So, if you ever discover a hole somewhere, do run away but after telling me. So that I too may run away with you. If there is some teacher who can tell me of where I lack, I would be the first one to want to go and submit to him. So, please do tell me, I'll come along. I'll run faster than you. I'll run faster than you to reach his feet first. I have no interest in remaining rigid on my personal stand.
I might be making a few mistakes here and there or maybe many mistakes, who knows? But to the extent I can see, I want to remain fully free to find out, to discover, and share. So, I'll never be shocked or annoyed, or hurt if proven wrong. That would rather give me an opportunity to come closer to the real thing. I'm okay with that. And if I won't be shattered, why would you be shattered? Who has been proven wrong? Me. And he (questioner) says, "But I would be shattered if my teacher is proven wrong." The teacher is not shattered. The teacher is enjoying, "Right, right, right. Can you tell me of a few more mistakes?" Why are you feeling so bad?
You know how the tribe of the Buddha spread? There were many ways but one of the ways was this; so the Buddha would go and talk to the learned people and they would have a discussion. And if the discussion would come to a point where that learned man who's talking to the Buddha, would see that he still has a lot to learn, he would just say, “I want to become your disciple.” Such was the eagerness to learn. He had come to speak to the Buddha as an equal. "You are a teacher, I am a teacher. You are a seeker, I am a seeker." And they would speak to each other and at some point in the discussion this fellow would request to the Buddha, “May I be your student?” The Buddha would humbly accept. And then this teacher would accept Buddha's discipleship along with hundreds of his students.
So, that's how Buddha's world grew. Not only would the teacher become the student, obviously all the students of that teacher would become the students of Buddha. Such was the internal honesty. Teachers were not at all afraid to become students. So, credit goes to the Buddha but equal credit also goes to this teacher who accepted to be a disciple.
I do not know whether I am the Buddha but I would be glad to be that kind of a teacher who can turn into a disciple any moment. So, together we both will learn from a Buddha. If you come across one, do tell me.
