God in Control... Then Who Created This Mess?

Questioner: Acharya Ji, I wanted to ask: what is the idea of God? Correct me if I’m wrong, but you have said that God doesn’t concern Himself with all our affairs. Then why exactly should I worship Him, or should I even worship Him in the first place?

Acharya Prashant: You tell me why you worship God. You’re asking me why should you worship God? That’s such a; what should I say, pitiable question, because you are worshipping someone and you don’t even know why you are worshipping. And then you say, “Why should I worship?” You tell me why you worship. Why does anybody worship? Out of only two things: ignorance and desire. That’s all. That’s why you worship.

Had you had no desires, would you go to any God? Please tell me. Or were you not afraid, would you go to God? When do people queue up in front of places of worship, temples, mosques, churches? When do you find the biggest crowds there? When there is a calamity, or students if there is an exam. So that’s the reason you worship. And you must know why you worship, because it’s your life, and worshipping is the most sacred act, is it not? Worshipping is commitment. Worshipping is devotion. Worship is surrender.

So you’re surrendering yourself without knowing at all why to surrender, whom to surrender. That would mean a lot of lovelessness towards oneself. Only if I do not value myself will I just commit myself to anything. Otherwise, if this head has to bow down, if I have to bow down this head, would I not first ensure that I know? That I know? Or can I just keep bowing down to anybody? Sir, you (pointing towards the listener) are God. Please tell me, why can’t he be God? Let’s say all these people here start worshipping him as God. Won’t you two queue up? That’s how. When you were born, you found everybody worshipping him, so you too started worshipping him. That’s how you worship. That’s all.

Sir, he’s God. Here is God. You can have this experiment: just declare him God and have a hundred people running after him, touching his feet and doing all these things, and everybody will start worshipping him. He’s God.

You take your desires and irresponsibility and you project that into an image, and you call that God. First of all, you have desires, and secondly, you’re not even responsible towards your desires. So you say somebody else should fulfill my desires. Now he’s God.

So what do I do? I bribe him a little. “Sir, here is some food for you.” And then I say, “Now you have to fulfill my desires,” because I am a lazy person who, first of all, does not know what to desire, and after the desire has randomly come, he does not want to put in the effort to fulfill his desire. So, sir, you will do it for me because you are God. I’ll worship you. I’ll praise you. I’ll put you up there on a pedestal and I’ll say you are the greatest. Now you have to do it for me.

He is God. Worship him, please.

That’s how absurd it is.

God must be another name for Truth. But the popular God is as far away from Truth as possible. God must be another name for Truth, but the popular conception of God is nothing but ignorance, desire, and fear.

Let’s say you don’t feel like going to Him. So He will tell you, if you don’t go to Him, He will curse you, right? So that’s what, fear. And that also translates very quickly into social sanction. He will tell you, you go, otherwise He will curse you. And if you go and He discovers, “Oh, a woman coming here, are you on your periods? Not allowed. I’m the priest, and if you enter, you’ll again be cursed.” Now you don’t know what to do, because there is no Truth anywhere. There is no heartfelt love anywhere. There is just the pressure of the crowd, convention, and tradition, and the irresistible force of desire coupled with irresponsibility.

I believe somebody pulls the strings. I believe some great power is there up in the skies, determining my life. So why should I be responsible? I throw up something and then say, “Oh God, what have you done?” Because I’m anyway not responsible. God is doing everything.

If a really omnipotent authority were doing all this, would the world be in such a mess? Please think. Think of the rubbish, the garbage on the streets. You really think the world is being run by an authority outside of yourself?

No. We are the ones running this world, and we have made a mess of it. But we don’t want to own the responsibility, so we bring somebody else in between. And that somebody else, poor God, cannot even come and argue for Himself, defend Himself, and claim innocence and say, “No, no, no, no. I have not brought the world to such a pathetic position. You have done it.”

We have created a God, a very convenient one with no voice at all. He’s sitting up there in the skies. He cannot come and argue for Himself. How convenient. Get into all the nonsense and then say, “God did it.” For all your prejudices, simply blame God. You want to uphold casteism? God has made the four varnas. So I will exploit you, because I’m not doing it, God has already done it.

You want to exploit women, simply say, “Oh no, no, no. I’m not exploiting. It is God’s order. It is written in God’s books.” See how all holy books say that women must be kept subjugated and inferior. So you can fulfill your desires. Now you can impose yourself on the woman by saying it is God’s order.

This is a God of your desire. This is a God of your images. Real God is nothing but absolute Truth. But the popular God is not that at all.

You want to impose yourself on the ones you call others, aliens. So you say, “You know, it is written in my holy book. See, God has written this book, or God has sent down this book, and this book says that all the infidels must be killed.”

Okay. All the infidels are killed. Then what do you do with their property? You give it to God? No. After killing the infidels, you enjoy their property, their land, and the women, everything, right?

That was the very desire since the beginning. But you wanted to wrap that desire in something looking holy. You wanted to package that desire in morality. So you create a god and you say, “No, no, no. I’m not doing it out of my own personal desire. God has ordered that I must kill all the infidels or treat somebody as a lower caste. God has ordered.”

This is a god of your own creation. This is a god of your own desire. This is a god of your own irresponsibility and lies. And by saying this, I’m inviting you to discover what God as Truth would be like, God as Truth, not God as desire or fear or irresponsibility. Get into that. You can’t just imagine and come to a figure and that is called real meditation. Dismissing God as desire and coming to God as Truth.

Questioner: What Truth exactly? What do you mean by Truth?

Acharya Prashant: You can see what false is? I quoted some 10, 20, 40 examples of what falseness looks like.

So if you can see what falseness looks like, that’s called movement into the Truth. Truth doesn’t look like anything. But you must know what falseness looks like.

Questioner: So Truth, if I’m not wrong, is not concerning ourselves with external affairs and focusing on what is inside, that is the consciousness.

Acharya Prashant: Even inside is outside, sir. Without these eyes that you call as being on the inside, would there be a universe on the outside? Inside and outside are just the same thing. Why are you drawing a line? It is from the soil that you rise. So where is the distinction? What do you mean by inside and outside?

Questioner: So that is dvait physiology, right?

Acharya Prashant: No, that is oneness. This is one. That soil and your body is one. And you have to look at their ways. Their ways are very physical. Their ways are very causal. Their ways are very deterministic. And that’s why you have medicines, because you already know that if an experiment has succeeded on a sample of 3,000, now the same research is applicable on entire humanity, right? Because it is replicable, because we are all very, very similar machines.

Yes, doses can vary and certain other things can be adjusted, but fundamentally the same principles apply to all bodies. The moment you see that, you ask, “Where am I in all this?” And when you ask that question, where am I in all this? That's the movement towards Truth.

The reality of your own being may be is God. Who knows? Discover it for yourself. The very reality of your own being. If you can come to that, and as long as you remain satisfied with all kinds of nonsense and artificiality, your God will be just like you. When you are right within, when you have a certain love for reality, then your God will also be one with Truth.

Questioner: Sir, I’ll just take one last question: what do I need to do to know myself?

Acharya Prashant: You’re already doing so much, kid. Look at what you’re already doing. You don’t need to do something additional or extra. You are anyway doing something all day, are you not? Are you not even at this moment? You are busy doing something, each single one of you. Can you see what you’re doing?

And in that seeing, there is Truth. But we are unconsciously just drifting. Somebody is busy elbowing the neighbor. Somebody is doing something. Do you even know what is happening? It is in that knowing that there is Truth.

You don't have to do something more, something special. You have to watch what is already happening.

Questioner: No, I meant to know myself, you have said, “Khud ko jaano, kuch karne se pehle.”* Khud ko sir, what do I need to do to know myself?

Acharya Prashant: So, you said, how to worship God, let's say. What does that question tell you about yourself? That's the process of self-observation.

The moment you ask that question, the question becomes the mirror. You say, how to worship. Now, what does that tell you about yourself? That I'm somebody who doesn't ask whether to worship, what to worship. What exactly is this thing called worship? All that I'm asking or bothering to ask is how to worship. So that's the process of knowing oneself. Look at your thoughts, actions, questions, answers, choices, feelings, emotions, and see how your inner machinery is operating, your relationships, your dietary choices, everything. That's what you have to look at.

And why do you want to know in advance? Because you are afraid. You don't want to go to places that are not already known. So you're asking in advance. “Show me a map. Give me a destination. Are there nice dhabas on the way?” Why do you want to know? Isn't it sufficient that there is consciousness? Why must the result be determined in advance? Because we are afraid, because you bother so much for psychological security. Physical security is all right. You must check whether the chair would hold for the next one hour. Yes. Right?

You must care for your tire pressure and such things. But psychological security, what exactly are you trying to protect within? Maybe the ego is trying to defend itself. Maybe all kinds of falseness's that the ego has gathered are clamoring for security. So we want to prefer the old paths, even if those paths include a lot of deadness, but we would prefer them because they are predictable. So we'll say, stupid predictability is preferable to illuminating uncertainty.

Illumination will always come with uncertainty. If you do something really truthfully by heart, then you will never know the consequences. So you'll be afraid, and you'll rather go for something very petty, very mediocre. Why? Because that's the lane billions before you have taken, and the consequences are well known in advance. So you say, at least there is some safety, security there. I'll take that road.

When you are doing the right thing, never ask, “What does it lead to?” Never ask. Forbid this question. If you're doing the right thing, don't care about the consequences. Not at all. Care about being in the right. That's what you must care about. What it would lead to is none of your business.

Questioner: Sir, I also wanted to ask, what should be worth my attention and what should not be. So suppose, let's say, that I am working towards a monetary goal, that I want to become, let's say, a doctor, to earn a lot of money. So should my career be the center of my attention, or is it also a small thing?

Acharya Prashant: Irrespective of what you say or claim, each one has to live for himself. Therefore, your own life has to be the center of your attention. Nothing else can be the center. Even if you try to, or pretend to, your life will be the center of your attention. Look at how things are for you. Look at your room, your relationships, your friend circle, your relationship with your books, your education, your relationship with nationalism and religion, your emotions, your urges. That's what you have to look at. What else? Will you get into his life? You can't. Only your own life is available to you. So that's what you'll get into.

Questioner: But aren't these bodily desires that you just mentioned?

Acharya Prashant: Do you say these are bodily desires? Ever told that to your girlfriend? My love is just a bodily desire. Here, in this field of attention, you can see and confess these are just bodily phenomena, but otherwise your entire day you keep claiming ownership, don't you? I like this, I don't like this, I love that leader, I love that actor. Do you then acknowledge that this is nothing but the inner algorithm operating?

Especially when it comes to things like relationships, would you ever confess that it is just chemicals, nothing more? Then you want to give it a divine color. Or the relationship, let's say between the mother and the kid. Would you ever confess that this is just a common mammalian thing? The mother has to breastfeed the baby, and there is a certain biological attachment. There is nothing holy or divine about it.

Questioner: Nahi, mujhe puchna tha, Let's say getting money is a bodily desire. So should I be working towards it, or should I not?

Acharya Prashant: You first of all see that it is nothing but the old animal in function. Don't ask me shoulds. I have no shoulds to give you. Should is something you should neither give nor take. That's the only should. You should not give should, and you should not take should. That's the only should.

See, see for yourself where all this is coming from. And then the decision gets made on its own. As we said, spontaneously, it's clear, lucid. You just say, "Ah, now I see." What do you say? Now, I see.

Questioner: Okay, I'll just take this one last question.

Acharya Prashant: God is benevolent (pointing towards the listener). Did you see there are so many of us here, but he looked only towards God? Because this is the God of desire, If he'll project his desire, God cannot even nod. God will sit like this and he'll say, "You know, now I'll take one more tenth last question." Yes.

Questioner: So, how do I know that what I'm doing is, matlab wo kaam sahi hai ya nahi, yeh kaise pata chale?

Acharya Prashant: Ye aapko nahi jaan na hai sahi hai ki nahi, kaam kya hai aapko ye jaan na hai. Sahi-galat tumhe kya pata, tumhe to pata bhi nahi hai tum kar kya rahe ho. Tum keh rahe ho sahi hai ki nahi hai? Main keh raha hoon, kis cheez ko poochh rahe ho sahi hai ki nahi hai. Tumhara to aisa hai ki ye mic mujhe dikhao aur poocho, ye bhutta sahi hai ki nahi hai khane ke liye? Galat sawal ka koi sahi jawab ho sakta hai? Aap isko (mic) kya samajh rahe ho? Bhutta jaante ho na kya hota hai, bhutta. Are ye genetically modified bhutta naya aaya hai market mein, kaale rang ka. Ye sahi hai ki nahi? To aapne to mera jawab dene ka haq bhi cheen liya. Aap bas yahi poochh rahe ho ki ya to bol do sahi hai, ya bol do sahi nahi hai. Ye poocho, ye hai kya? Chabaane se pehle.

You cannot grant him that wish. Only he can.

Questioner: Matlab pehle jaan lo ki kya kar rahe ho, uske baad decide karna hai ki.

Acharya Prashant: Tumhe kuch nahi karna, tumhe jaan na hai. Decision apne aap ho jaega. Ek baat batao, tumhe pata chal gaya hai ye bhutta nahi hai, tum abhi bhi chabaoge? Tum decide karoge, tum kahoge, ab mujhe abhi-abhi pata chal gaya. Now I see what it is, and after that, I still have to decide. Would there still be a need to decide, or has the decision been made?

So, knowing makes deciding redundant. In knowing, there is no specific role for deciding. You need to decide because you remain confused. You remain confused because you first of all don't even know the options you have, and that's why so much effort is put in making decisions, and even after that, you remain confused and doubtful. Have I made the right choice?

Questioner: To jaante kaise hain? How do I know?

Acharya Prashant: Look at your teeth, how they are feeling after chewing at it? Your own experience will tell. You think of it as Bhutta, but ask your teeth what they are thinking of it as. I think this one is my great friend, but four years of my life with him, and I look at my experience, and I have been put in cages. My time has been wasted. My mind has been corrupted, and I'll know the Truth. But for that, I must not care so much for labels. If I've labeled him as a friend, or a well-wisher, or something, then I'll become blind to my own experience.

Then, you know, they remain mere devotees. The priest and the god, these two poor souls, are here just to clap.

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