Questioner: Namaste sir. So, my question is about social media and content addiction. So the platforms are getting more and more addictive and the content is getting more and more sexual in nature.
This results in very antisocial and aggressive behavior, various mental health problems and excessive sexual desire. All our energy is gone into social media where it should have been utilized in doing something noble. My question is, as young people, how should we avoid it? How should we fight this thing that is trying to catch us?
Acharya Prashant: Fight something else. That's how you fight this. Fight something else. If you wrestle with an opponent, you are de-facto to embracing him. Ever seen wrestlers?
Questioner: Yes. Yeah. They grab….
Acharya Prashant: Yes. They grab each other. So, why do you want to fight Instagram? Go fight something else. Be engaged somewhere else. You don't have to fight Instagram. If you fight Instagram, then You are embracing Instagram. Have other meaningful battles in life. Go fight there and then you'll have very little energy to expend at these places.
Then even if you go to these places, I too go to Instagram, that's once in 7 days, 15 days and that's purposeful. I want to see what's going on and it's good fun. Not only do I visit there, I actually follow stuff from there to all kinds of selectively obnoxious stuff I pick and forward to all.
Questioner: (Laughing) Yes sir. You show those….
Acharya Prashant: I have never shown you anything. How did you get them?
Questioner: You have shown one video once.
Acharya Prashant: I thought that's a new leak coming up.
(Both laughs.)
Questioner: Actually it is also a social thing that is causing anxiety issues and some other type of issues in young generation. I've seen some statistics that as our generation 16 to 24 age group, we are spending our 20 to 30% of time, 8 to 10 hours in social media only Sir.
Acharya Prashant: Why are you doing that? You're doing that because you don't have anything else to do, Baba. That's all.
We have Kamlesh (name of PAF employee) here. He spends 100% of his time on social media, but with a purpose, I hope.
It’s about the purpose. If you have a purpose, if you know what you're doing, then it's all right wherever you spend your time. And you know what that implies that if you don't know what your purpose is, then even if you are not with social media, you're still wasting your time. The fellow who wastes his time on Instagram is likely wasting his time even when he's not on Instagram.
Questioner: Yes Sir.
Acharya Prashant: Because he's the same person. He's the same person coming from the same center. The entire day he wastes his time somewhere. Then in the night he wastes his time on Instagram because he's the same person. So it's not just about 20-30% of your time. It's not just 20-30% that you are wasting. You're probably wasting 100%.
Instagram and the addiction is just a symptom of a purposeless life.
And that purpose cannot come from any external source. It has to come through self-observation. When you look at yourself, you know what to do. You are your own first and primary responsibility. That's what the purpose of your life is. To take care of yourself, to redeem yourself from all kinds of nonsense you are born with. But that would require that you honestly look at yourself and say, you know, this is my condition. I don't want to be in it anymore. And therefore, I'll work. I'll work to salvage myself.
Questioner: Let me let me write it down.
Acharya Prashant: No, you'll get this. You don't need to write it down. You'll get a copy of this.
Questioner: Yes sir. Thank you.
Acharya Prashant: That's what Kamesh spends 100% of his time on. To bring these to you on social media. Social media by itself is not a problem. The problem is when you do not have the right thing at your heart.
Questioner: I'm getting it. The problem is I'm not putting that right cause to it. I'm not understanding myself that where I'm coming from. My purposelessness I'm not seeing it. So, I'm saying that Instagram is the cause where Instagram is not the cause.
Acharya Prashant: Yes. Wonderful. Very well put. Very well put. Instagram is not the cause. I am the cause. Instagram is the symptom.
Questioner: Oh yeah. Actually.
Acharya Prashant: And if Instagram were to be banned in India, something would replace, substitute it. Just as reels took the place of Tik Tok.
Questioner: Tik Tok. Yeah.
Acharya Prashant: Yep. Even if the entire field of social media were to be banned, you would find some other place to go waste your time. No, the social media is not the real culprit. The real culprit is lack of self-knowledge. I don't know who I am. I don't know why I exist. I don't know what I should do. That's the problem. There is this vacuum that social media just happily fills. I'll get up from this. I have so many things to do. I'll be awake almost till the morning. How do I get the time to….
Questioner: When I have a purpose, I won't get any time to get distracted from that purpose.
Acharya Prashant: Reels are not a problem. You say reels spoil you. We use reels to salvage the spoiled ones.
Questioner: Yes.
Acharya Prashant: Now, Now reels can be both the venom and the anti-venom. You say reels spoil you and your foundation is using reels to salvage the ones who are spoiled. Now tell me are reels the problem?
Questioner: No. Getting it. I'll focus on the sessions and recordings more. Thank you.