Is it necessary to have aims in life? || With youth (2015)

Questioner (Q): Is it necessary to have aims in life?

Acharya Prashant (AP): Right now, if you are asking this question, and you have an ‘aim’, would you be able to really know what I am saying? An ‘aim’ is already present in the mind, right? “I want this… I want X.” When you have an aim, you never say, “I want, but I do not know what I want.” ‘Aim’ means that you have something solid present in your mind. So, if you have an aim while asking this question, then an expectation of a particular answer would already be there in your mind. And if an expectation of a particular answer is there in your mind, will you be able to listen to what I am saying?

Chances are that my answer will have nothing to do with your expectation. You expected X, and I am giving you neither X, nor Y. You would be comparing, confused, and without any clarity. This is the case with all points in life, because whatever life has to offer you, is always new. So to approach it with an ‘aim’, only prevents you from realizing the facts, and entering the truth.

You see, you go to a supermarket. And what all does a supermarket has to offer? Everything. Everything, you name it, and you have it there. You have groceries, you have clothes, you have food products, you even have electronic items. You may even have cars being sold there. Whatever you use, is to be found in a supermarket. It is a huge supermarket, right? Everything under the sun is available there. And it contains thousands and thousands of things, products, that you have never seen before, that are totally new to you.

So the supermarket can offer you a lot of surprises, a lot of new stuff. But you go to the supermarket, already with an ‘aim’ that – “I want potatoes.” What do you want? “Potatoes.” So you enter the supermarket, and you say, “Potatoes.” And what will you get? Potatoes.