Man vs God: How Intellect Has Become a Hindrance to Liberation
Question: Acharya Ji, a few minutes back in the session you said that in today’s times we will not approach God to Love him. We will approach Him to stab Him. You also said that animal operates from the centre of prakriti (nature), and the Saint operates from the centre of Aatma . And we operate from buddhi (intellect).
What is it that is so lowly in us that will make us do so? Is it this buddhi (intellect) which has become a hindrance in Liberation?
Acharya Prashant: Man has become more empowered in an external sense, than he ever was in his history. That is what is peculiar about this age. Man was never so powerful with respect to his environment as he is today.
No virus can harm you, no bacteria can harm you. There are no plagues, no black-deaths. You can produce as many objects as you want. You can order them at the click of a button. Everything is home-delivered.
Was it ever so good for man?
Today you have reasons to feel omnipotent.
Tomorrow you can have fast-food delivered on Mars as well. Man never had it so swift, and so easy, and facile. What size do you want? What colour do you want? What kind of customisation is needed? Just express your desire and it will be fulfilled. Was it ever this way in human history? Today it is.
And that is why today’s age is peculiar. There is very little to make you acknowledge your limits and smallness. There is very little to make you bow down.
Man bows down to only two things – either to fear, or to beauty. Today the world has neither of these.
There is very little to be afraid of. If the Earth is being destroyed, you can colonise another planet. So don’t worry, we will fly away. At least the rich ones would.
And man also kneels down in front of beauty. And there is very little beauty to be seen. So man is not kneeling down. Man is not at all bowing down today. There is neither fear nor beauty.
Man is de-facto God in his own eyes. Man is determining when man would be born. Man is determining how man would look like. Man is determining the colour of his eyes. Man is determining his gender. Man is also just about to determine his death. Very soon man would come to a point when prakritik (natural) death would become impossible.
So why should there be any space for God left? All the historical, all the usual reasons for the existence of God are no more applicable. Null and void.
There were things unexplained in the physical, material world. So man attributed those things to God. Now everything stands reasoned out – logically, scientifically explained. So God is discounted.
Saints talked so much about death in order to remind people of God. Now death is no more a big scare. So God is out.
So all the historical reasons that pushed man to God are no more valid.
Though there is still a very-very strong, fundamental reason that is valid. But that is a different reason. And that is the only genuine reason. And that is an inner reason.
Unfortunately the history of Religion has been such that most people have not gone towards God not because of inner reasons, but they have gone to God because of outer reasons: loss of a loved one, poverty, unexplained physical phenomenon. These are reasons that pushed people towards……
Listeners: Spirituality.
Acharya Prashant: Spirituality, or Religion, or God.
Now those things in the external world are happening no more.
So the external reasons to go towards God are no more there. Only internal reason is there. But the internal reason has never been powerful enough in the entire history.
Even a thousand years back, if a thousand people were religious, nine hundred ninety-nine were religious because of external reasons. Only one person was ever religious because of purely internal reasons. And that internal reason was as applicable then, as is applicable now.
Today if you will turn Spiritual, it is only because of the internal reason. In fact the internal reason is more pronounced today than it was ever in the history of mankind.
So the situation is peculiar two-fold.
The external reasons are not at all strong today, but the internal reason is doubly strong today. However, traditional religion is still trying to attract people on basis of external factors. And therefore traditional religion is failing.
Today’s Religion, today’s Teacher has to talk purely of the inner reason. And that inner reason will remain always, always valid. That inner reason is consciousness itself. Consciousness itself is a great desperation. Consciousness itself is a crying need. Consciousness itself is a longing, a desperation. A squirming wail. So the only reason today to go to Truth, or God, or Peace, is the agitation of the mind.
The agitated mind can be the only propelling force. If you try other baits, or reasons, or forces, or attractions they are all going to fail.
One has to look at his life, one has to acknowledge the tremendous tension and conflict within, and then one has to proceed from there.
That is the genuine basis of today’s Spirituality.
Everything else is out-of-date.
