We have to accept responsibility for our lives, our times. At the center of our lives lies nobody else but the liver, the individual, the person. If you are the living entity, then your life is your responsibility. Philosophies from the past, knowledge from the past, traditions from the past, myths from the past — they are at best resources available to you in the form of knowledge, ammunition. But whose responsibility is it to utilize the knowledge, to load the ammunition, and fire it? Yours.
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Questioner: Acharya ji, I’m beginning to think that ancient traditions, even authentic spiritual philosophies, are today greatly misinterpreted and misunderstood. Tradition and spirituality need to be renewed and refitted according to modern times, but people are following mechanically, regardless of whether their beliefs benefit them or not. I put the blame squarely on those in the past, who forcefully executed their will on the masses to follow tradition and philosophies.
Acharya Prashant: A few quick responses. First of all, no philosophy is the truth in itself, should be obvious. Because we exist in falseness, therefore, a philosophy is needed, a theory is needed to wipe out the pre-existing falseness. Love for the truth — that’s the literal meaning of philosophy. Because you love the truth, you say something, you express something in words that obliterates falseness. So, any philosophy is at best an attempt, a method to eradicate something. Even if it is not expressed in negativa, it still just seeks to refute something that exists in the mind as truth. That’s why usually people find philosophies difficult or complex. They appear complex from the point we look at them. We look at them from a point that they seek to attack. Therefore, the difficulty in negotiating with them, reconciling with them.
