How is the spiritual dimension different from the mental dimension? || Acharya Prashant (2017)
Question: Sir, what do you mean when you say that Joy, Love, Peace are of another dimension?
Acharya Prashant: You may run very hard but, despite all your speed and the distance you cover you would still not fly upwards into the sky. Running is a dimension that can take you very-very far, on the earth.
On the earth you will go very-very far, if you run and you set it out and if you are committed to the discipline of running, you will reach very-very far on the earth, but, that would not take you even an inch higher into the sky.
Rising into the sky is not something that, you can accomplish by running hard and harder. This is called a dimensional difference. It is not as if running does not accomplish anything. Running accomplishes a lot, on the earth. But, no amount of running can take you to the sky.
Do you see dimensions law?
Our tendency is to try to do the impossible. Because, we are creatures of legs and because we are accustomed to running and because we fairly do not know anything except the legs and running, nothing in our up-bringing – our past, our experiences tells us anything about flight. So, even to fly we just run because running is all that we know of.
Hence, running is our solution to every problem including the problem of the sky.
You want to get something; run.
You want to leave something somewhere; run.
You want to reach somewhere; run.
You want to stop; run.
Such is our attitude towards life. When you know only to run, then you run even to stop. The stopping is the sky. Stopping is not in the same dimension as running. Running takes you to places, stopping is where the home is. But, if you want to reach, you have only one tool available to you.
The experience and the world teaches you just one tool, do something – run, gather knowledge, become better, evolve, progress, practice, develop a skill, learn a discipline, run. Of all the respectful running, running takes you to far-off places, ‘on the earth’. It will not take you to the sky.
The mind of man and especially the western mind is habituated to doing. Even non-doing is something that it wants to do. It is habituated to proceed via knowledge, structured and actionable information. So when it comes to relieving the mind of knowledge, the mind wants knowledge about not having knowledge.
The fellow comes and says, “Can you give me some load that will ease my load. You see I feel badly loaded. Kindly, put some more load on me so that, my load is relieved.”
The fellow is fairly successful in worldly terms that is proven by the fact that he is carrying a lot of load. But, that’s what the world teaches us – bigger is better, more is progress; to get, try; to be, become; to sleep peacefully, work hard.
Is that not our education?
And to ensure peace, launch a war; is that not every war launched with this justification?
That is the thing about trying to reach non-doing through doing.
That is the thing about trying to reach the sky dimension by running hard and harder on the earth.
That, which is valuable is in a dimension that is not accessible to legs. You will not get that which you are really desperate for, really really desperate for, by trying and working and setting goals. You find that you are there when you find that your goals are all so misplaced.
It’s a thing about finding. It’s not a thing about reaching. When you see that your goals have only taken you further away from your goal then, you find that you are already in the goal.
Do you get dimensions?
No amount of running around on the ground floor, will take you to the top floor.
Yes, when you find the top floor, in the ground floor then you can merrily keep running. As long as you are running to reach the top floor, all your running will be just tiredness and exhaustion and the pain of a failed life. When you can find the top-most in the bottom-most then, you can keep valuing in the bottom most. Now, that the top has been reached, what is left to achieve? “When nothing is left to achieve, I’m alright even at the bottom.” “When nothing is left to achieve, I can keep moving, keep climbing with the assurance that no more climbing is now needed. Hence, my climbing, my ascent, my movement is no more a question of need.” It’s now something about fun.
Do you know the difference between doing something for need and doing something for fun?
When you have already hit the destination, then you loiter around for fun. Then you may readily afford to get lost, why? Because the destination is already in my pocket. So, now I can get lost. Now, I can wander and stroll and waste all my time. Who cares for time anymore?
Roaming is not the same as being stranded.
Strolling is not the same as a brisk walk intended to burn down some fat. You aren’t counting calories. You aren’t counting time, you are just strolling.
Running to save your life is not the same as dancing.
Human life is so much about running to save one’s ass. Is that really the same as dancing? The thing about us is that, even when we appear to dance, we are actually running.
Wherever there is a purpose, that is called running. Our dances are also purposeful. We want to dance successfully, after the dance we would look back and count the profits or losses.
There are two types of climbing. One, in which you climb because the destination has not been reached and the second, in which you climb because the destination has already been reached.
And these are the only two types of living possible. You can live as a beggar, who lives to fulfill his deepest desire. He feels he has nothing, so he is always making, asking. Or you can live as the king who already has the ultimate and is now free to walk naked like a beggar.
You can sing in order to get something, or you can sing because you already have something. How do you want to sing? How do you want to climb? How do you want to live?
You can sit here and listen because you want to know something that you do not know, or you can sit here and listen, because whatever I am saying is something that you already, naturally and obviously know of without knowledge.
How do you want to listen?
If you would listen to me as if you do not know, then all you would get from me is knowledge and structured information. You already have enough knowledge, what would you do with more? But if you could sit here and listen to me as one listens to his own echo, not as a strange sound but as something arising from one’s own heart then, it would be different.
You could sit here and look at me as one looks at stranger. One looks at a stranger in order to get knowledge about the stranger or you could look at me as one looks at the mirror. You already know the one you are looking at, he is you.
These are the only two ways of looking. These are the only two ways of listening. These are the only two ways of climbing and living.
Hope you pick rightly.
