Feeling threatened by the world, you seek a false security from the same world || (2015)
Questioner (Q): What exactly is the difference between ‘being at the mercy of circumstances’ and ‘being a superconductor’?
Acharya Prashant (AP): Who gave you this phrase – ‘at the mercy of circumstances’? Who gave you this phrase?
Q: I was listening to one of your videos where you have said that in ‘chaos’ stage, one is at the mercy of circumstances, and one is not rooted anywhere.
AP: Where is this phrase coming from – ‘at the mercy of circumstances’? Does it come to anybody who is not in that chaos stage that you are talking of? Is it a spiritual phrase – ‘at the mercy of circumstances’?
When you say, “At the mercy of circumstances”, there are two things that are contained it. One, the world is a hostile place. Second, that you are being affected by that hostile place. Do you see this? Are any of these statements of the Truth? Is any of this a part of the spiritual lexicon? Do any of these apply to any mind, other than the chaotic mind?
Then, if you ask me, “What is the difference between ‘being at the mercy of circumstances’ and ‘being a superconductor?”, the difference between these two is the difference between the minds, to which these two phrases apply. ‘At the mercy of circumstances’ applies to, as you said, a chaotic mind. And ‘being a superconductor’, applies to the unified, integrated mind. That is the difference.
When you are a superconductor, this phrase – at the mercy of circumstances – this phrase simply does not occur to you, because it can occur only to a very violent and fragmented mind, a mind that feels that the world is a dangerous, inimical place.
Only to that mind will this sort of thought come, that – “I am at the mercy of circumstances.” It's just a matter of thought, you know. One could be standing shelter less and it starts raining. In one mind, a thought could arise, “I am just at the mercy of circumstances.” In another mind, there could be a totally different thought. And in another mind, there could be no thought at all.
So, it depends on who ‘you’ are. And it is very easy to get into a position of self-pity – “I am at the mercy of circumstances.” It is very easy because everything around you is pushing you to think like that. Only when you feel that the world is dangerous, that you will strive for self-security.
And when you will strive for self-security, you will become more and more dependent on the world, because the ‘self’ is the world. And to secure your ‘self’ is to secure yourself through the world. Otherwise, there can be no security.
The more you try to secure the ego, the more you try to secure the worldly arrangements that you have made around you. Have you not seen that?
So, a defeated and afraid mind will surely say, “I am at the mercy of circumstances.” And to another mind, where there is no fear, this thought will simply not arise. That is the whole fun of wisdom, of spirituality – certain thoughts just don’t come to you.
It is not that new thoughts of a special variety start coming to you, not at all. It is not that a spiritual man thinks differently, it is just that he does not think most of the stuff, that you keep thinking. It is not that there is some special characteristic about his mind; it is just that his mind does not carry most of the diseases that your mind carries.
I am putting it very simply; I am guaranteeing it. Spirituality simply means – that most of the thoughts that are so automatic right now with you will stop occurring. And it is such a relief, such mercy.
Have you seen how automatic your thought pattern is? Have you seen what all you keep thinking? Won’t it be a great relief if these thoughts do not come to you, that whatever be the circumstance, this thought is simply not occurring?
Everybody around you is busy wondering, planning, fearing, and the thought of fear, of harm, is not occurring to you. That is the fruit of spirituality. You are innocent, and people are looking at you, with wide eyes, “How are you so relaxed?”
‘Relaxation’ has no positive quality on its own. It is no quality at all. It is just the absence of useless pondering. What is ‘relaxation’? Does ‘relaxation’ mean that you are doing something special, something new? ‘Relaxation’ simply means that what the rest of them are doing, you are free from doing it. That is relaxation.
“You are running around; I am – not running around.”
“You are jumping hither and thither; I am – not jumping.”
“You are occupied with thought; I am – not occupied with thought.”
This is relaxation. ‘Relaxation’ does not mean a fresh, new, special action.
So, when you are not thinking of stupid stuff like this – at the mercy of circumstances – that is when you are relaxing. You are not thinking; you are relaxing. That does not mean that a new thought, “I am superconductor”, has come to you. If this ‘thought’ has come to you, then again you are not relaxing.
‘Being a super conductor’ only means there is no resistance. And if there is no resistance, there is no problem. ‘Resistance’ and ‘problem’, are one and the same thing. What is a ‘superconductor’? That does not resist.
No resistance, no problem. No problem, what will you think about? Have you seen this, every thought concerns a problem? If there is no problem, what is there to think about? Can you think problem-lessly? Or can there be problems thoughtlessly? Answer this. It is not possible.
‘Relaxation’ – that is what is ‘being a superconductor’. Simple relaxation.
