Inferiority Is Chosen
Questioner: Namaskar Acharya ji. My question is: even though we are going towards a true religion, some religious identity is attached to us, like a popular religious identity. And when we are dealing with society, they make us feel inferior. I also sometimes have this fear that somebody might kill me just by looking at my identity card or my name. So how do we deal with this inferiority and fear?
Acharya Prashant: If you are in a jungle, you must know how to protect yourself from the beasts, right? That’s a matter of basic intelligence and rationality, right? If you know there is a particular place where beasts roam about in the human form, why be close to that place? And if you have to visit that place, assure proper security. As simple as that.
So that was the easier part of the whole thing. Then comes the thing about feeling inferior. See, you can be killed without your consent. There is no complexity in that. So I took that first. If you can be killed without your consent, take due care of your physical security. Simple. Religion cannot help you in this. No god can help you with this. You have to take care of yourself, right?
Feeling inferior, that does involve your consent. Nobody can make you feel inferior if you are not participating in that phenomenon. Somebody looks at you, says a few things to you, denigrates you, abuses you, or whatever, or slaps you, all that is something that person can do. But how did he manage in making you feel inferior inside? That’s something he cannot do. That’s something only you can do. So he didn’t do it, you did it.
Maybe abused, slapped, insulted, whatever; that’s something he can do. But feeling inferior is something you did. He didn’t do that. And why must you do that? Why must you do that? There is no reason, right? There is no reason.
Please know that you are not a social slave. Please know that you don’t have to depend on social approval. Please know that really, really, outside of practical concerns, there is no authority outside of you.
Yes, on the road, the traffic personnel are in authority, and you will listen to them. When in the courtroom, the judges are in authority, and you will listen to them. When in the classroom, the teacher is the authority, and you will listen to them. But beyond all this, and in spite of all this, and much deeper than all this, is the fact that internally nobody can be an authority. You are the one. It’s your life. Therefore, it has to be your understanding, your discretion. Nobody is bigger than you.
They can do bad things to you, obviously, they can. And they have done bad things to even the greatest of people. Yes, they can do that. But let them do that. Fine. That doesn’t mean that we want them to do that. When they come to you to do that, run away. But they may still be able to catch you. And if they do catch you and slap you or hit you or kick you or whatever, one part of damage is already happening, the external part, right? Let not internal damage happen.
They don’t mean anything. They are nobody. On one hand, you are saying they are pseudo-religious people. On the other hand, you are saying they managed to make me feel inferior. You see the dichotomy.
If you already know that they are pseudos, why did you allow yourself to feel inferior because of them? Right?
If a great person comes to you and tells you that you are stupid, maybe there is some merit in taking his words to heart, because a great, accomplished person, a learned, wise person came to you and said you are stupid. So you’ll say, “Ah, maybe there is something to that. Let me consider that.”
But you already know that’s a crowd of pseudos, fake people. And if they are fake, and you know that, why take their actions to heart? If you can’t escape, then ignore. Getting it? And you very well know that in this world, practically, we are dependent people. We rely on networks and codependencies. So just as they managed to spread all kinds of falsenesses, your duty is to clear away the nonsense they have spread. Or we are saying that they can be so successful in doing what must never be done, but we will remain abject failures in doing what must be done.
When you say they have great numbers, you must also ask yourself: why don’t you have any numbers? Think of the effort they have put. They are attempting the impossible and still succeeding. They are proving the false as true, and yet managing to convince everybody. We must compliment them, right? They are real warriors, utter falseness, and yet they have managed to proliferate, propagate, even capture power. What an accomplishment.
And on the other hand, here you are, and you say, “I stand by the Truth. I’ve seen through falseness, and yet I’m all alone because I couldn’t communicate it to anybody.” Why didn’t you communicate it to anybody? That requires agency, patience, effort, and love. Why didn’t you display that?
The problem with those in the false is they know that they are in the false. So out of their insecurity, they multiply. They know that they need a crowd because they’re insecure. So they magnify their numbers. And those who have seen through this game say, “You know, I know all that is nonsense, but I want to sit in my corner. No, no, I don’t want to go out. I don’t want to talk to people, and especially I don’t want to be on the streets.”
Open your mouth. Be active. Reclaim what must be rightfully yours. Why have you given away religion to the fraudsters? I’m asking you.
They don’t deserve to have it, right? But they are owning it. They are possessing it. They have become the authority. They have become the keepers. They have become the masters of religion.
And here you are. You are saying, “What will I do? They can come and even kill me, and I’m so scared.” You’re scared because they worked and you didn’t. They worked even when they were in the false. And you didn’t work even when you had seen through the false. Even when you professed allegiance to the Truth, you showed no effort, no industriousness. So they gathered numbers. And now here you stand all lonely, scared even for your life. “If I go out and say all these things, they can do very bad things to me.”
Why did you let it come to this? Please tell me.
If something can happen through numbers, why have you not raised up numbers? Why don’t you have numbers on your side? And is that also not a religious duty? Please tell me. If you have the Truth radiated to others? Please tell me. Is that not the greatest seva-paropkar, paramarth? So that’s why you are being punished. No seva. No paramarth. You said, “I know the Truth,” but then you’re so scared of telling it even to your roommate. He will feel offended.”
Our Gita sessions, there are thousands of such cases. The man or the woman is a part of the program for a year, even two years, and nobody in the family knows. She has ensured nobody comes to know. Even in the month of May, she hides beneath a quilt, puts these things (pointing towards the earphones) on, and then like a criminal, with zero brightness, so that nobody can see any light filtering through.
Seen how the pseudo-religious operate. They’ll capture the streets. They’ll come and knock at your door. As if they have the authority, as if they have the genuine power, as if they are the genuine heirs of a great legacy. And then here we are, trembling in our own little cave. “What if somebody comes to know?”
Take ample pictures. Everything should be published on social media. A great antisocial act has happened just now.
After every such event, fifteen emails we receive: “Please don’t publish my photo, my video.” Or, “If you do, please, can you blur my face?” This is the reason, got you. So many of you right now are actually thinking about that, with all these cameras, “This is also going to go out. What do I do? How do I hide?”
Own the streets. Reclaim them. Recapture them, because you rightfully deserve to. Don’t be afraid. Open up. Stand up. Not just for yourself, for the sake of this entire planet.
Questioner: So while going somewhere with my parents, in front of a temple, I saw a bunch of people. They held a goat and they killed it in front of the goddess with great pride and joy. And they say that people shouldn’t do anything bad to animals during festivals. But in front of the goddess, you’re doing this. So do you think this is logical? And how should I spread awareness about this?
Acharya Prashant: Beta, they are not doing it in front of the goddess, really. They’re doing it in front of a crowd. And it is the crowd that empowers them to do this. The goddess doesn’t empower them. The goddess is not on their side. Not at all. The goddess hates all this. The goddess is what we call the Big Mother, the Universal Mother, Badi Maa. Every sentient being is her child. Obviously, you know what she thinks about all these animal slaughters in the name of religion.
So it’s not that the goddess has allowed this, or the goddess likes this. The crowd has allowed this. All these things happen in front of crowds. And it is the crowd that’s cheering on the murderers. “Yes! Yes! Come on, do it! Come on, do it!”
Therefore, if you want to stop it, it has to be a thing of mass awakening, so that the crowds are no more on their side. They don’t have any inner integrity. If you make them stand alone, they will shiver and drop. They stand on the crutches of the crowd. Take away the crowd and they will fall. They are not people who can go solo. They are not individuals. They don't have any inner moral or ethical or religious locus. They have none of it. All that they have is 2,000 people behind their back, and it is this backing that empowers them.
Therefore, mass awakening is the only solution. You'll have to take away the crowd. Are you getting it? Which means you have to talk to at least 10-20 people just like this. Each one of us has to talk so that the crowd thins down. And that's what the goddess also wants. This is real worship of Devi, if you can save her kids. Getting it?
So talk just as you spoke to me, at every possible forum ask these questions, these uncomfortable, inconvenient questions. They must be asked, and you will find there are so many others who still have some innocence left, and they will listen, and they will propagate. Right? The message needs to go far and wide. Are we getting it?
Each of us feels lonely in this pursuit. We think, “But, you know, all of them are on...” No, no, no. You're not alone. In fact, it's quite possible that you are in the majority, just that they are organized and you are not. So even if they are in a smaller number, they still appear very large because they're an organized mass. They're an organized mass.
And here you sit, not knowing each other, not communicating with each other, thinking that all of it is just an individual matter. No, it's not. See, it is an individual matter when you are liberated enough to be an individual. Given the way we are, if we are afraid of others, then we also need the support of others. That's the test.
As long as you are somebody who feels afraid of others, you must also be somebody who must actively build the support of others. Which others? The right ones, the truly religious ones. That is the need of the hour. Otherwise, even a 5% determined, organized minority will capture the scene.
Questioner: Sir, this is only a doubt of mine. We are people of different religions here, maybe she's a Muslim, Buddhist, or a Sikh. Every religion says seek peace or attain peace. Then what are we fighting for? Do we really need religion then?
Acharya Prashant: Words context. We said religion is a mirror held up to you. We are fighting over the brand of the mirror, the color of the casing, the size of the mirror, the historicity of the mirror, all these things. We can fight over everything related to the mirror, but we will never look into the mirror. And we take great pleasure in shattering each other's mirrors.
Questioner: Then what is religion teaching us?
Acharya Prashant: Religion is unteaching us. Religion is not there to teach you anything. The mirror does not show you your beauty; the mirror shows you your masks. The mirror unteaches you your masks. That's the role of religion, to peel away these masks, which are very, very ugly. Right? That's the role of religion: to reduce you, not to load you further with teachings or commandments or rituals or beliefs.
That's not religion. That even a storybook can do. This happened, then that happened. When did this happen? Nowhere. Sometime in the past it happened. Antiquity, prachinkaal something happened, and then God said this, this, this, this. This is a storybook, not religion.
Religion involves the self, this one (pointing towards the oneself), this world, and the relationship between the two, with an urge for sublimation of this relationship and liberation of the self. This is religion. Belief systems and rituals and this and that, that is not religion. That is taken as religion, and magical stories. That's not religion.
Though traditionally, what constitutes a religion? A religion must have a book, some miracles, some gods, some prophets, right? That is what academically is said to constitute a religion. But that's not what religion is.
Religion is this: I suffer as a human being. I suffer, and I deserve to live free of suffering. I deserve to attain my highest inner potential. And that has to be done while living in this world. And living basically means having relationships. Right now you have a relationship with that mic, with your clothes, with this person, with the entire gathering, with the floor here. Right? This is what we call living. This is living.
So religion is about the relationship of the self with the universe, Jeeva and Jagat. And the relationship has to be in such a discrete way that this one attains total freedom from bondages coming from all this. This is religion. All else is fairy tale, good entertainment, pathetic entertainment. Because even kids don't laugh at those tales.
Several of those tales are very, very violent. Have you seen all across the world? Look at the stories related to religion, and then, within one sweep of the hand, some angel or somebody made two lakh people disappear. And that's genocide. That's not holiness.
Questioner: Good evening, Acharya Ji. I'm Madhavan. I'm from Hyderabad, but I've been living in the US for the last five years. I just arrived in Hyderabad yesterday. It was a sudden plan, and lucky to attend this session today.
I've been listening to your sessions for a long time, for the last couple of years, and the YouTube videos too. Acharya Ji, this is a great opportunity for me to ask this question. I have a lot of questions in my mind, but one thing is this.
If I look at the West, one experience to connect the dots: there are tall buildings, as you mentioned; top researchers; global Big Four companies; top researchers working for these companies; and those researchers working to design algorithms to track how the human mind works, etc., on one end.
So can I say that capitalism has captured science with power, or with money? And in the other direction, when we see religion, or the false religion, the lok dharma we talk about, has captured humans in the name of false religion, where these systems and traditions have become like fragments, and the essence of true religion is lost. And then, on the other end, we have politics, and we have the identification of a nation. The identification of nations has created wars globally.
So these three systems which we talk about, one is religion, the lok dharma; one is capitalism; and the other one is politics, where a man or a woman holds their hope, or has the highest hope, towards these three systems in general. All these three have failed. So, Acharya Ji, this spiritual mass awakening which we are talking about, can it reach the top people who hold power towards these three systems?
Acharya Prashant: See, systems don't fail. Man fails his systems. You create your systems. Right? Most cases, when you have a car accident, it is not that the systems in the car have failed; the driver has failed the car. The driver has failed the car.
Systems have no consciousness. Systems are made by human beings, are used by human beings, and then are misused by human beings. So you don't have to have hopes from systems, political or economic or technological. The human being has to improve. The human being has to start seeing who he really is, and then all those systems will change.
Then you said, what to do with those who control the systems? Those who control the systems, they do so with your cooperation. The political master, for example, the President of the US, he didn't just occupy the Oval Office. You sent him there, and he is still very popular. Look at it. Look at his approval ratings.
So it's not about the systems. “Oh, the system is so unfair.” Somebody is making that system, and somebody is sustaining it. And that's who we are, the sustainers. We are the fodder. We are doing whatever we are. Getting it? So when we all change, then you will find the systems changing. It can't be the other way around. Assume it is the other way around. Somebody does give us a beautiful system, will we allow that system to function, remaining who we are? Please tell me.
So what has to change first, the system or the human being? The human being, obviously. And as you change, so do your systems. And when your systems change, they exert a better influence on you. So it becomes easier to change. And that's how the cycle moves.
