The decorated highway of success or The naked sky of freedom? || Acharya Prashant, with youth (2013)
Speaker: Aman has asked, ‘What should I choose, a life of correctness or a life of exploration?’ First of all we have to understand that why this question is arising in his mind. What is correctness? ‘Correctness’ as the word, as the notion exists in our mind, is probably about following a beaten path. If I have to go from here to somewhere then I already know this is the path that I ought to take. So many others have taken this path. This path has been recommended to me by teachers, friends, family. Whenever I look around I see people taking this path. So this must be the correct path. After all I just have to reach from here till there. Reaching is important. Why waste time in thinking too much about the path, especially when the path is so easily obvious? It is a proven path. Everybody has been taking this path. So why bothered to inquire about this or that, I already know. Take this road, walk, reach there’. This is what probably we mean by correctness. It is already correct. It is well know, in advance through others. Then there is exploration. What he means by exploration is, ‘As I stand here, not only do I have a definite notion, a fixed notion about the path that I want to take, I also have not asserted my mind where I want to reach.’
In the first situation, you just want to do the ‘correct’ things. There are many people who just want to do the correct things. In the lives of those people who are very fond of correctness, first of all the ends are fixed, where you want to reach; the target, the goal. The ends are fixed and also the paths, the means, they are also fixed. These are the people who worry a lot about correctness, who are afraid of being incorrect. Where does their correctness come from ?
Listeners(everyone): Others.
Speaker: Others have told them that is the place to go and this is the path to take. Then there is a second kind of people who are explorers. What happens with them? They stand with no fixed concept of where they ought to reach. Life is not work for them. Life is not a project for them. This is the project that we need to complete. This and this way and the way also needs to be correct. Life is just a game, a sports for them. So what would they do? They would go and find. They would look about. They would not say that anything is prohibited for them. ‘This is the highway that goes till that point, but who has prohibited me from looking right and left of that highway. Nobody has prohibited me. The highway is nice, very-very nice, everybody is travelling on the highway. There is nothing that prevents me from looking at the greenery around and may be there are small tracks that move on the side of the highway that lead to the beautiful places. I will explore, I will find out.’
Remember, the first kind of people have been told in advance, where to go and what kind of path to take, which road to take. I am calling it a highway because everybody takes this path. When so many people move on a path, they call it a highway. The second kind of people explore, they are not obsessed with the highways. They do not care much about the highways. They say, ‘Highways are alright, if we feel right travelling on the highways but then on the side of the highway there are such beautiful and nice things’. Have you seen the people who travel on highways? Their eyes are always on the…
Listeners(everyone): Road.
Speaker: On the roads. If you are travelling on the highway and you are also in the great hurry to reach where you want to go, the only thing important in your mind is your destination, where you want to reach. Would you really care to look at what is going around, this side and that side, especially when you are driving? Will you do that? You won’t do that. It is because your mind is full of the thought of the destination. ‘We need to reach there and this is the path we are taking then what do we have to do with this and that.’
So, often they appear to reach their path, but they do not enjoy anything. They do not enjoy anything. The highway does not really have the beauty of life. The explorer is less concerned with what is artificial, what is target orientated, with what leads to somewhere. He is more concerned with playing, with enjoying, so he will stop. He will go deep to enjoy the fields and if there are jungles this side, he will go deep into the jungles as well. He might meet some interesting people out there. Oh, it’s quite likely he might encounter with danger. But dangers have their own thrill.
Right? As young people do you really want to avoid all dangers? That would be very-very cowardly. Won’t it be? Who wants to avoid all dangers? A bit of threat here and there is alright, that adds to life, makes it spicy. Doesn’t it? These are the explorers. They are not really obsessed with the ways of life. They dare to go this side and that side. They dare to stop to look at the sky as well. How many of you ever look at the sky when you are driving? You reach the sky if you look at the sky. You need to be an explorer for that, who first parks his bike and who says that I am not in the hurry. Would you park your bike and look at the sky? The explorer is never in the hurry. He doesn’t really have to reach anywhere. He always has time. He is not in the competition.
If you are racing your bike with somebody would you stop at the side and look at the flower on the side? Would you? You are racing your bike, you are in competition with someone, you can’t look at the sideways. Would you? You can’t. The explorer does not do all these things. He is brave. He does not compete. He already knows that he is a winner, there is no need to compete. He is the winner always. He does not have a need to compete. In the eyes of the achiever, in the eyes of this person who does all the correct things, the explorer is the big fool. Are you getting it?
In the eyes of the achiever, the explorer is the looser. He says, ‘See, he doesn’t race, he doesn’t compete. He is not thinking about reaching anywhere. He will be left in life’. That’s what they think about the explorer. That is not the truth. You ask the explorer. You meet him, you look at his face and you will find a lot of joy. You will find a certain radiance. You will know that this fellow is not a looser. In fact, he is the only one who is living life fully. He is enjoying it. He is really-really enjoying it. Who is enjoying it? The go-getter or the explorer.
Listener 1: The explorer.
Speaker: The explorer. Now, having come so far, you will tell me that what do we mean by these highways. I have talked of the beaten path, I have talked of the highway. What do these represent? In your life are there any highways? There are surely. Tell me about them. What do we mean by highway, the beaten path that everybody is taking? What is everybody doing?
Listener 2: There is no highway.
Speaker: There is no highway. I see everybody doing something. What is it that all of you seem to be doing?
Listener 3: Copying others.
Speaker: Copying others. In what ways we are coping others? Have you seen a highway? Vehicle after vehicle, all moving in the same direction and in the same way. Is our life something of that sort? Vehicles after vehicles all trying to go to the same place. All moving one after the another. Yes, is our life something of that sort? Where are we all going? Is there some place that we all want to reach? Is there something that we all demand? Alright, let me make it easier for you. What is that most of you want? You know that I want this and my neighbor wants this. What is it?
Listener 4: Success.
Speaker: It is success. So, the name for the highway is the ‘highway of success’. Give a more concrete name to this thing. When do you call yourself as successful?
Listener 5: When we achieve something.
Speaker: When you achieve something. What is it that you want to achieve?
Listener 6: Name, fame.
Speaker: Name, fame and money: that is the highway. Everybody is going on that. Can I have a bit of reputation please? Give me some money. Will some company hire me? That is the highway. The go-getter is always on the highway, running, racing, huffing and puffing. Always sweating, afraid. What is it that he is afraid of? ‘It is a grand race, always going on. Will others beat me in the race? Will I reach that destination? He is always looking back over his shoulders looking that who is following me. He is always trying to look far at the horizon thinking that who are the ahead of me. What is my percentage? What is the percentage of the fellow on the right? What is my salary package? How many friends do I have on Facebook? He has a girlfriend, he too has a girlfriend. Where is mine? That is the highway. I have reached a certain age, certain time. By this time, I should have reached this place. I am thirty now, where is marriage?’
That is the highway on which everybody is going. That is that correct thing to do in the life. I know that most of us are very interested in doing the correct things in life. But I am sure that we have a few explorers as well here. They are the real salt of the earth. They are the once really worth talking to. I speak for them. I am not interested in those who have already made up their mind to do the correct things, who are very afraid to leave the highway.
Anybody here who want to live a life of the explorer. Who want to be explorer? (Looking at the audience) Raise your hand hands. Let everybody see.
(Some listeners raise their hands)
These handful of people, if they can sustain what they have just said, they will actually reach somewhere. The go-getters will run their entire life and will catch nothing. The explorer doesn’t run to reach and he finds that he has already reached. Yes! Scared? The exploration is dangerous. On the side of highways you may meet few robbers or dangerous snakes. You might also meet a beautiful girl. It is worth getting down from the highway. Would you?
Excerpted from a ‘Shabd-Yog’ session. Edited for clarity.
