Living a Life of Dignity

Acharya Prashant: The Buddha used to quote three types of horses. Coming from his palatial background, it seems he was fond of horses. So, he would say that the worst type of horses are those that move only when spanked. That’s how our energy rises—it rises upon spanking. When there is trouble, we work; when the horse is spanked, it runs.

We work to avoid trouble. For us, work is trouble; only when there is trouble do we work. So, most people necessitate trouble in order to work. If there is no trouble, they won’t work at all. So, they bring their situations deliberately down to the point of trouble. Now, when there is trouble, they will be forced to work—it’s deep, deep slavery.

The fellow knows that no gentle methods will work upon him, so he plots against himself. He turns his situation bad and worse to the extent that he must now necessarily rise into action, but is that really needed? Is it not possible that one works with some dignity? Is it necessary that the horse runs only when spanked?

Is it necessary that only fear and greed and insecurity and nonsense of all kinds are able to elicit some movement from you? Can’t you work in joy? Buddha would say that the highest kind of horses are the ones who run when just whispered to run. You need to give them the slightest pointer and they move.

The worst kinds require to be beaten up. Those of the middle kind require to be shown the whip. Show the whip to them, bring the whip close to them; then they sense the danger and then they move. Then, there are those of the top quality. You just go close to them, touch them, maybe gently massage them, and they know that it’s time to run. They don’t require to be slapped or whipped.

Ātman (the Self) is dignity. Those who live by the true Self live a life of dignity. Those who live by their falsenesses live a life devoid of all grace, all dignity. No respect, no glory is available to them. The only song they dance to is the song of whiplashes. Otherwise, they do not know any music, any dance. Do you want to dance to this gentle breeze or do you want to dance to the music of whiplashes, tell me? That’s the Truth; that is the Ātman that Ashtavakra talks of.

Full article link: https://acharyaprashant.org/en/articles/wise-dumbness-sharp-stupidity-creative-laziness-on-ashtavakra-gita-1_3418f34

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