Intelligence is being fully alive, fully present || Acharya Prashant, with youth (2014)
Acharya Prashant: Sourabh is saying, what is the value of our own thinking when we know that the mind is so vulnerable to being manipulated by others?
When we know that the mind is full of influences coming from others, then what is the value of our thoughts?
Sourabh, if you really are feeling this, then the first thing is to stop saying “Our thinking and my own thoughts”, right? Because our opinions, our thoughts are anyways not our. Our likes and dislikes, they are anyways being dictated by the influences around us.
Born in India, you like cricket so much. Born in Argentina or Brazil, you wouldn’t have heard cricket. And today you say “Oh, my God! I’m all the time thinking of cricket.” Maria Sharapova recently said, “Tendulkar who?” Born in her country you would have said the same thing, “Tendulkar who?” But, we take our opinions very seriously, without realizing that they are no value at all.
Being an Indian you’re bound to have a certain opinion about Pakistan, and being a Pakistani you are bound to have a certain opinion about Afghanistan. Sitting in this college you will have one particular opinion about other colleges. Other colleges will have an opinion about these colleges. It all depends upon where you are sitting. And that is so very random. So random. What is the value of these opinions?
Only two places, from only two places, do all our opinions come. One, either the body. Second, the society. There is no third place. How do pinions come from body? The tongue tells you, something is tasty, so now your opinion about it. Being born a man, you will have a particular opinion about women. Women do not have the same opinion about women that men have about women. Right or wrong? So, is it your opinion or the body’s opinion?
