How to decide the highest work to do? || Acharya Prashant, at BITS Goa (2023)

Question (Q): Sir, you always talk of filling life with the highest work possible. I want to know what exactly is that highest work you repeatedly refer to?

Acharya Prashant(AP): We know of what is not high, right? When we are talking of filling our lives with the highest possible, that's actually not a constructive process; that's not actually a process of filling up, that's actually a process of draining out or emptying. Empty your life of what is not high, that's what I mean.

So, you have to interpret my statement in negativa. When I say, “Fill yourself up with the highest,” what I actually mean is drain out the lowest, getting it? Drain out the lowest. And don't you know what is low in your life? What is low in your life? Just a few examples? My life, gluttony, one of the things. I have a lot of other stuff as well.

Q: Instant gratification.

AP: Instant gratification—pleasure, yes. What else is low in life?

Q: Fear

AP: Yes, Fear! Come on, let's fight it out. Fear is something that energizes me because it comes so often to terrify me. And when it comes, I say, “Right! Now, now is the time for a duel”. I don't always win, obviously, but I try to give it a good fight. At least, that much I am capable of, right? You too are capable of that. Are we different? Does fear come to you?