Acharya Prashant on Two Kinds of Hope
Questioner: What is hope? Is hope good or bad? Why is the mind always full of hope?
Acharya Prashant: Hope is a movement away from what you think the present condition is. This is simple. You hope to be different. Whenever there is a hope, there is an expectation attached to it. Hope is always about the future and you want something to happen in the future. This is called hope. So, there is a present condition, there is a present image that you think exists. You want to go away from it and that you call as hope. ‘I am not good right now, I want to be good’; this is called hope. ‘I am not an achiever right now, I want to achieve’; this is hope. ‘I don’t have all these things, I want to get them’; hope. ‘I have these things, I don’t want to lose them’; hope. An image of the future; hope. And hope wants a change.
Now, hope can be of two types. Understand this clearly. First type of hope says, ‘I am not sufficient. There is something wrong with me. I am inadequate. There is something missing and I want to get something which will make me complete. I am missing a person in my life, I hope to get that person. I am not complete till I have a good job. I hope to get that job’. This is the first kind of hope. This type of hope says, ‘I want to gather more. I want to achieve. I want to accumulate’. This hope says,’ I want to get more’. Now, this getting will make you more dependent upon external forces. It will make you more dependent upon the world.
We said that the first type of hope first asks for a change. It has an expectation from the future and a moment away from what you think exists. First type of hope wants a change and in this change it says that I don’t have, I want more. This is the change it wants. ‘I don’t have security, I want security. I don’t have money. I want to be well-moneyed.’ This hope is about gathering and hence this hope will make you dependent because the gathering will necessarily happen from the outside. When you take something, it is prone to be taken back as well. And because your want is dependent on the world, so it is not certain that you will get it and then, there will be fear. Fear that the hope will not materialize.
What kind of hope is the first kind, Which says, ‘I want to get more, I want to become something, I want to get something’? This hope, firstly makes you dependent and secondly gives you fear. Because the moment you hope, there will be the fear that the hope may not materialize. If your hope is certain, then it is no more a hope. Whenever you say ‘hope’, there is always an element of chance, probability attached to it. This may happen or this may not happen. ‘This may happen’ is hope and ‘this may not happen’ is fear.
So, this kind of hope will always come with fear. We are talking about the first kind of hope. The hope that says, ‘I am not complete’. The hope that says that ‘there is something missing in me and I must achieve, that is my vision of the future’. This hope makes you dependent and makes you live in fear.
There is another kind of hope that says, ‘I have seen. I have a glimpse of what I really am. And that which I really am is beautiful, complete, full, adequate, not in need of any improvement. I have a glimpse of that. I have a glimpse that I can be free and fearless. But right now, I see that my life is full of fear. Right now, I see that my life is full of dependence. I can see that I can be free from fear. I can see that I can be free from dependence. But, right now, all these things are crowding my life. I have a glimpse. I have a faint realization that I am very, very capable. That I have the potential to stand alone. But right now, my life is full of borrowed stuff, borrowed beliefs. I have a faint glimpse that I can understand life and that I can live as per my own understanding. But right now, I am living on concepts given by somebody else. I am just seeing the little bit. That I can be an individual. And there are moments where I find my individuality. But right now, my life is mostly occupied by the society’. But in this second kind of hope you do not want to gather much.
Remember the first type of hope. What did you say? You said that you want to get something: a position, a job, money, a partner, respect, something. That was the first kind of hope that I want to get something. The second kind of hope says, ‘I don’t want to gather something. I am already complete. I just want to get rid of something’.
First kind of hope says that I want to get something. Second kind of hope says that I want to get rid of something. Do you see the difference? Most of the times we are pre-occupied with the first kind of hope which says that get something. That kind of hope we have seen will keep us dependent and afraid. The second kind of hope says I want to get rid of everything and discover my true nature. the second kind of hope says that I will discover my aloneness and freedom. The second kind of hope says that I am already a diamond and that a lot of dirt has gathered upon me and I want to get rid of the dirt. You don’t want more dirt.
First kind of hope says that give me more dirt. The second kind of hope says that I want to get rid of the dirt. Do you see the essential difference? Do you see that clearly? Unfortunately, most of the times, what kind of hope are we dealing in? The first kind or the second kind?
Audience: The first kind.
Acharya Prashant: The first kind. If you must hope, hope for the second kind. Hope to find yourself. Hope to get rid of the bondage. Hope to get rid of all that the society has enforced upon you. Hope to get rid of your fears. You don’t have to achieve anything. You have to get rid of the accumulated stuff. You are already perfect. You don’t have to achieve anything. You are wonderful, beautiful, complete. What can a diamond want? What more can be added to it? Just that the dirt can be removed. Hope to get rid of the dirt. Just get rid of the dirt.
